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Posts Tagged ‘Bellevue Christian’

On to the promised land!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2017| 2 Comments »

   Wolf spikers (l to r) Emma Smith, Ashley Menges and Maya Toomey-Stout are headed to the state tourney. (Kimberly Bepler photo)

   Early in the day, Coupeville volleyball moms were laid-back and carefree. Things would get nerve-wracking later. (Konni Smith photo)

Wolf fans dominated the stands in Tacoma. (Bepler photo)

   JV players showed up to support their varsity counterparts, and get a first-hand view of what they one day want to accomplish. (Smith photo)

   Wolf senior Payton Aparicio celebrates with mom Tami and big sis Sydney. (Bepler photo)

State bound for the first time since 2004. (Photo courtesy Cory Whitmore)

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Two years ago, playing for a different coach, the Coupeville High School volleyball team had its season end early in the district playoffs at the spike-happy hands of Cascade Christian.

Saturday, on the biggest stage they have faced, the six Wolves remaining from that 2015 squad got the big payback.

Knocking off the Cougars in four sets while playing on a neutral court in Tacoma, CHS claimed third-place at the West Central District 3 tourney and punched their ticket to state.

Coming on the heels of a hard-fought four-set loss earlier in the day to Bellevue Christian, the split lifts Coupeville to 13-3, tying the program single-season record for wins.

It also sends the Wolves to Yakima for the first time since 2004.

When Hope Lodell, Payton Aparicio, Kyla Briscoe, Lauren Rose, Katrina McGranahan and Emma Smith — the last of the ’15 team — arrive at the SunDome for the 1A state tourney Nov. 10-11, they will find Castle Rock waiting for them.

Win or lose that first match, they are guaranteed a second match against either King’s or defending state champ Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls).

But that’s a week away, and Saturday night all second-year Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore could do was smile, smile and smile some more.

The body and brain were exhausted, but the buzz was still pinging a mad path across his nerve endings.

“I’m so proud of this team’s fight and heart throughout the day and especially down the stretch to meet the goal, going to state,” Whitmore said. “I can’t say enough about how hard they have worked, and worked together, to accomplish this milestone.

“So proud of these girls and so happy that they get to see their hard work pay off – such an incredible experience for them and to share that is indescribable.”

Four teams entered the gym at Charles Wright Academy Saturday, with three state slots in play.

The host Tarriers claimed the district title, edging Cascade Christian in five titanic sets before knocking off Bellevue Christian in four.

BC is still the only 1A team Coupeville has lost to this season, but, after being swept in straight sets in a non-conference match early in the year, Saturday’s tourney opener was much more of a pitched battle.

The Vikings slipped away with a 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23 win, but had to scrap for every point.

“I thought that we fought incredibly hard and showed a lot of heart when playing them,” Whitmore said. “They have two very strong hitters in the middle and our plan was to keep their attacks low and we did that for the most part.

“We served tough and at time too tough, sending the ball out more often than usual, but when our serving would get consistent, we would go on mini-scoring runs by staying aggressive with our swings and scrambling on defense.”

Sophomore sensation Maya Toomey-Stout and seasoned senior Aparicio paced Coupeville at the service line, each ripping four aces.

McGranahan and Ashley Menges backed them up, lacing three straight-up winners apiece.

When the ball was in play, big-hitting Mikayla Elfrank was the final word, cranking out seven kills to lead a balanced attack.

McGranahan (6), Aparicio (6), Briscoe (4) and Smith (4) all chipped in, as Menges and Rose combined to set up their teammates while sharing time at setter.

When the ball hit the floor, Lodell and Aparicio went low to scrape it back up, each wracking up 12 digs apiece.

While taking a second loss to Bellevue could have been a crippler, the Wolves shrugged it off impressively, returning to the same court fired-up two hours later.

“I was very impressed with this group’s ability to mentally recover from a loss to be in a loser-out situation game,” Whitmore said. “It’s a testament to our experience with a large group having been in that very situation a year before to turn around and come ready to fight for that last spot to state.”

Knowing Cascade Christian was aggressive, the Wolves matched their attack, taking chances and swinging for big play after big play.

While its service game dipped a bit in the second match, Coupeville made up for it with strong play at the net and a refusal to bend to a private school playing much closer to home.

With a large contingent of Cow Town fans making a considerable amount of noise, the Wolves took the opening set 27-25, then slipped a bit, dropping set two 25-20.

Not ruffled in the least, CHS —  maybe channeling a need for revenge, maybe not  — closed things out 25-19, 25-22.

Lodell was “all over the court,” racking up 15 of her team’s 55 digs, while Rose had four aces and eight digs and McGranahan (10 kills) and Smith (8) were a one-two hitting machine.

Aparicio gave her team a bit of everything, collecting 11 digs, two aces and seven kills, including the one that sent Coupeville to state.

The Wolves suited up 12 players Saturday, with Scout Smith, Chelsea Prescott and Emma Mathusek also in uniform. Senior Allison Wenzel was at a prestigious music performance, but will return for state.

Whether they were the six getting a bit of revenge for themselves and 2015 coaches Breanne Smedley and Heidi Wyman, or part of the new wave of players prospering under Whitmore, Chris Smith and Ashley Herndon, every Wolf shares one trait today.

They’re scrappers, they’re winners, and they’re Yakima bound.

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Red Zone of horrors!!

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Shane Losey played a strong defensive game Friday, including blocking a Bellevue Christian PAT kick. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Where’s Marshawn Lynch when you need him?

An inability to get one yard, twice, killed the Coupeville High School football team on a very chilly Friday the 13th.

Unable to punch the ball in during the second half, despite having first-and-goal from the one-yard line on their opening drive, then third-and-goal from the one on their next possession, the Wolves fell 24-12 to visiting Bellevue Christian.

The Homecoming loss drops CHS to 1-3 in league play, 3-4 overall.

It also adds a new layer of frustration for Coupeville coach Jon Atkins, who has seen his team decimated by injuries which have thrown a wrench into a season which started quite strongly.

Hunter Smith and Sean Toomey-Stout, the team’s leading receiver and rusher, both went down for the season back in week five, and that has limited the Wolves offensive attack since.

Still, Chris Battaglia and Andrew Martin ran strongly Friday, battering through the BC defense — until Battaglia went down with his own foot injury.

While he was able to return late in the game, Battaglia’s absence was huge, as he had carried the ball on four of the previous five plays, tearing off chunks of yardage on the opening drive of the third quarter.

With #23 being attended to on the sideline, the Wolves went to #32, and Martin crushed it, ramming up the middle for nine, six and 22 yards on the next three plays.

The third run came up a single yard short of a touchdown, as a horde of Vikings finally rode Martin to the turf just outside the goal line.

Trailing 16-12 coming out of halftime, CHS seemed poised to regain the lead, sitting on a first-and-goal, with the end zone tantalizingly close.

Only it didn’t happen, as the Wolves started marching straight backwards, with two aborted runs and a holding penalty turning a first-and-goal on the one into a third-and-goal from the 15.

After 10 straight running plays to open the second half, CHS went to the air, only to have back-to-back Hunter Downes passes batted down by defenders at the last second.

Coupeville’s second half death march continued from there, with BC putting together a 16-play, 85-yard scoring drive to bust open the game, followed by the Wolves suffering another disaster at the goal line.

It started with a first-and-goal from the Viking four-yard line, after CHS used a mix of Martin power runs and three Downes to Cameron Toomey-Stout passes to move 70 yards.

In the open field, the Wolves were moving, churning their way to glory. Up close, however, they stalled out.

Three incomplete passes and a run stuffed at the line later, any hopes of a comeback win were gone, and all Atkins could do was shake his head in frustration.

“Two Red Zone scores, we punch those in, we win,” he said. “We have 1,000 pounds on the line. We have to learn to push forward and be a little more nasty. We have to learn how to move that ball.”

Coupeville’s scoring came in the second quarter, as the two teams combined for 25 of the game’s 36 points and changed leads several times.

Bellevue kicker Mark Postma had staked his squad to an early 3-0 lead with a 25-yard field goal hit with enough foot to probably clear from 45 out.

After coming up empty on its first four possessions, Coupeville finally broke through, taking advantage of a fumble recovery deep in Viking territory.

Downes, rolling out at the BC 19-yard line, dropped the ball into the left corner, where Toomey-Stout made a sensational catch, dancing like he was back on the ballet stage he once graced in a production of “The Nutcracker.”

A blind ref shanked Wolf fans by claiming Camtastic had been knocked out at the half-yard line, but Coupeville shook it off with ease.

On the very next snap Toomey-Stout went the opposite way, curling into the right corner, and Downes deposited the ball on his waiting fingertips.

The touchdown toss was the 30th all-time for the senior gunslinger, pulling him within three of Brad Sherman’s CHS career record.

Downes also continued his pursuit of Sherman’s career record for passing yardage (3,613), cracking the 3,000-yard barrier on a 24-yard screen pass to Battaglia late in the first half.

While Toomey-Stout’s touchdown put Coupeville up 6-3, the Wolves PAT was blocked, then the teams exchanged scores in record time.

Bellevue bashed the ball in from three yards out to regain the lead at 10-6, only to watch Matt Hilborn take the ensuing kickoff all the way back.

The Wolf junior plucked the ball out of the air at the 15-yard line, spun into a pack of Viking tacklers, then somehow broke free, did several pirouettes, found a surprise gap in the defense and was off to the races.

Hugging the left sideline, he roared 85 yards to pay-dirt and wham, bam, Coupeville had the lead back as fast as it had lost it.

The Wolves couldn’t keep it, though, with a failed conversion pass limiting them to a 12-10 lead, which vanished right before the half on another short BC touchdown run.

Coupeville saved at least one point when Shane Losey blew through the line and blocked Bellevue’s extra point try. That kept the halftime deficit to what, at the time, seemed like a very manageable 16-12 tally.

Martin, a sophomore wearing the same number #32 his older brother Jacob did before him, had an especially strong game, plucking his first interception of the season.

He also rumbled for 67 yards (unofficially) as a rusher, all in the second half.

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Many tacos, some wins!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Raven Vick was enjoying her post-game meal until the paparazzi got all up in her business. (Maria Reyes photo)

The road to perfection hit a brief snag.

After sweeping its first two matches this season, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad hit a pothole on Taco Tuesday.

Playing at Bellevue Christian, home of the most revered food truck in all of high school sports, the Wolves enjoyed tasty treats, but endured a sour finish on the floor.

Falling 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 in a non-conference tussle with the always-sharp Vikings, the Wolves saw their record slip to 2-1.

The loss capped what was otherwise a strong evening for CHS, as it swept to C-Team and JV victories earlier.

Coupeville, which has yet to play at home this season, heads to North Mason Thursday for a match-up with a strong 2A squad.

Only then, after four matches, plus prior trips to Langley and Yakima for tourney play, will the Wolves finally visit their own gym Sept. 26.

That night Klahowya comes to Whidbey for a major Olympic League showdown.

While the Wolves couldn’t get the win Tuesday, it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“I’m pleased with some things that I saw us do, that we may not have a year ago or even a couple weeks ago,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “I’m proud of our fight tonight.

“The scores may not show just how close each set was, but we left the gym feeling like we left it all out there and really stayed competitive with them.”

Bellevue Christian boasts a very strong offense, and Coupeville attacked it relentlessly, before falling to some big hitters.

“We went at their block instead of avoiding it and playing timid,” Whitmore said. “Bellevue Christian was required to earn the points they put on the board; we battled and at this early point in the season, that’s what I want to see.

“We’ll go back to watch some film and look for areas of improvement and hopefully get another chance to play them later in the post-season.”

Wolf junior Ashley Menges was a key, with six service aces and nine assists.

“Ashley did a great job of staying aggressive from the service line and brought us within striking distance in the second game,” Whitmore said.

With Menges and Lauren Rose (10 assists) setting things up, Coupeville’s power players were able to spray kills.

Junior Emma Smith peppered the Vikings with five, while Mikayla Elfrank and Kyla Briscoe chipped in with four apiece.

“Emma did a great job in the middle of playing faster than the ball, both as an attacker and a blocker,” Whitmore said. “I’m proud of how fast she played tonight.”

Hope Lodell (six digs, two aces), Briscoe (six digs) and Payton Aparicio (five digs, two aces) filled out the stat sheet, while Coupeville collected eight team blocks.

“Our blocking is starting to become a strong part of our game,” Whitmore said.

Young guns roll:

Coupeville’s JV and C-Team swept to victories in the early matches, with both Wolf squads running their records to 2-0 on the young season.

After dropping the opening set, the C-Team roared back to take the next two 25-22, 25-16.

“They played solid, really commanding the last two sets,” said Wolf JV coach Chris Smith.

In the night’s second tilt, Coupeville’s JV swept all three sets.

“We are continuing to work on playing hard and smart,” Smith said. “Communication and tenacious team defense.

“Coach Whitmore and I were very proud of what we saw.”

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Avalon Renniger has some celebratin’ to do!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , on September 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   It’s a Renninger family reunion, as Sage (left) and Avalon celebrate their sisterly soccer success. (John Fisken photos)

   CHS girls soccer manager Chris Cernick shoots game action, while Dawn Hesselgrave protects him from the elements.

Sage Renninger gets ready to torch Bellevue Christian’s goalie.

Dr. Z lives dangerously, operating an electronic scoreboard in the rain.

   That area behind Wolf sharpshooter Ema Smith? That’s where new, possibly covered stands will go … one day.

   The BC goalie ponders the futility of her life as Avalon Renninger (16) scoops up goal scorer Lauren Bayne.

   CHS football players came out to support their classmates Saturday, though they did find some time to amuse themselves as well.

   One BC defender can’t bear to look, as Kalia Littlejohn (black headband) and Avalon get their celebration on.

A little rain is not going to stop John Fisken.

The intrepid photographer ambled back to his car at halftime Saturday and reemerged with a giant U-Dub umbrella, then, shielded from the steady Whidbey drizzle, went promptly back to work.

As the Coupeville High School girls soccer squad pulled out a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 win over big city rival Bellevue Christian, Fisken’s camera fired away, catching the shots featured above.

Your featured performer?

Avalon Renninger, super sophomore, rampaging booter and giddy force of life, who pops up multiple times in this essay.

To see everything Fisken shot (purchases support college scholarships for CHS student/athletes) pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-2018-Coupeville-Soccer/2017-09-09-vs-Bellevue-Christian/

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Do you believe in miracles?!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , on September 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf goalie Sarah Wright made several sensational saves Saturday, including one in the final moments of a 3-2 win. (John Fisken photo)

Move over, Vince Lombardi, cause Kyle Nelson has a few things to say.

The low-key, nattily-dressed Coupeville High School girls soccer coach had a message for his team at halftime Saturday afternoon.

“We can play with this team. We can beat this team. If we believe in ourselves.”

Apparently the Wolves were listening.

Trailing by two scores with just under 30 minutes to play, Coupeville rallied for three unanswered goals — the final one coming on a freak play — and stunned visiting Bellevue Christian 3-2.

The non-conference victory, which sent the gathered CHS football players into a mad celebration, evened the Wolves record at 1-1.

More importantly, it was a statement win, and a huge one.

Bellevue Christian hails from the Nisqually League, the conference which crosses over with the Olympic League come playoff time.

For a Wolf girls soccer program which has struggled in the postseason, having this kind of win, especially the way it came, is huge.

“I’m proud of the whole team,” Nelson said. “They came together and made it happen.”

And it truly was a team effort, as countless players made contributions.

The goal scorers will get the bright spotlight, but Coupeville doesn’t win if defensive whiz kid Mallory Kortuem doesn’t spend the afternoon relentlessly chasing down one breakaway after another.

It doesn’t win if freshmen Lily Zustiak and Genna Wright don’t play like hardened vets, scrapping for every ball.

It doesn’t win if Lindsey Roberts doesn’t mash the heck out of the ball (and any foe unlucky enough to linger next to Roberts sharp elbows).

It doesn’t win if Sage Renninger isn’t a calm, cool and collected captain, Maddy Hilkey, Natalie Hollrigel and Knight Arndt don’t play like scrappers and Avalon Renninger and Tia Wurzrainer don’t lock down their sides of the field.

And it certainly doesn’t win without second-half heroics from the trio of Sarah Wright, Kalia Littlejohn and Lauren Bayne.

It was Bayne who broke the spell, Littlejohn who lit the fuse and Wright who slammed the door shut.

Trailing 2-0 after BC snuck in a goal early in the second half (their first score came in the 25th minute of the first half), the Wolves were stuck in neutral.

They were getting decent looks at the net — Littlejohn had narrowly missed three or four times at that point — but couldn’t ruffle the Viking goaltender.

Until Bayne went medieval on her rear.

One of only two seniors on the CHS squad, the ever-dependable midfielder picked up a loose ball, turned and fired a point-blank shot that left her foot like it was coming out of a cannon.

The Bellevue net-minder reached for it, then watched in horror as it ripped right through her grasp, possibly leaving a gaping hole in her body as the ball slammed into the back of the net.

Given new life, the Wolves surged, staying on the attack.

It paid off less than two minutes later, when Roberts uncorked a long, looping drive that went airborne like a field goal attempt, then dropped on a dime at the feet of the hard-charging Littlejohn.

The BC goalie screamed (more a sob, really) as Kalia devoured her soul whole, abusing her ten different ways with a quick set of jukes, before knotting the game at 2-2 with a wicked slap shot.

If the Vikings thought Coupeville would settle for the stunning come-from-behind tie, they were wrong.

With just five minutes left in the suddenly action-packed tilt, Sage Renninger crushed a corner kick that headed for Littlejohn, who was lurking in front of the net.

Caught up in the melee (and perhaps frightened by the sight of Littlejohn coming at her, eyes flared and teeth bared), a BC defender made a fatal error and turned her foot the wrong way.

Renninger’s lob smacked the defender’s shoe right as Littlejohn lunged, and it angled off perfectly, skidding backwards into the net for an “own goal” that drove a stake through Bellevue’s collective heart.

The Vikings tried to push for the tying goal, but Wright was resolute in net for the Wolves, turning away multiple shots at the end, including one snag that knocked the wind out of every fan’s lungs.

The junior goalie is in her first year as a soccer player, having jumped over from volleyball, and her long experience as a softball catcher has been invaluable in giving her the skills necessary to surprise even her veteran coach.

Wright was a rock for CHS all afternoon, making several sliding saves in the first half, and handled the non-stop drizzle, which made the field and ball extra-slick, like a seasoned pro.

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