Jill Prince soars to stuff a shot during a recent Coupeville C-Team volleyball contest. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
These freshmen don’t back down.
When coach Krimson Rector lets loose her Coupeville High School C-Team volleyball squad, they come flying right at folks, mixing up things with a ferocious mix of kills and service aces.
After coming dangerously close to upending North Sound Conference powerhouse King’s Monday, the young Wolves returned to their home court Wednesday and polished off Sultan in a matter of minutes.
How one-sided was Coupeville’s 25-5, 25-8, 25-7 win over the Turks?
Well, let’s just say Sultan didn’t return a serve over the net until late in the first set, and won only two points total all night.
If the Wolves, who now sit at 4-1 in league play, 5-1 overall, hadn’t banged a few serves into the net, the Turks would have really been hurting.
Wednesday night’s whuppin’ started with a bang, which was the sound the volleyball made after it slammed into the floor on Sultan’s side of the court, having been launched from the cannon-like serving arm of Allie Lucero.
The fab frosh ripped off five straight service winners, then teammate Ryanne Knoblich went her three better, peppering the Turks for eight consecutive serves which couldn’t be returned.
Up 14-1 at one point in the opening set, the Wolves polished off the frame in 13 minutes, 10 of which were spent waiting for Sultan to go retrieve the ball after it skidded by on the way out the door.
Taygin Jump closed the set with a nice run at the service stripe, while Knoblich ended the one, and only, mini-rally with a gorgeous tip for a winner.
The second set was a bit different, as Sultan put the ball in play more often, but that just gave the Wolves a chance to work on other skills.
Jordyn Rogers, Jump, and Vivian Farris all connected on big put-aways, while Gwen Gustafson came tip-toeing through the tulips to launch a perfectly-placed drop shot for another winner.
That brought a smile to the face of older brother Clay Reilly, a Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Famer back in his old gym to watch lil’ sis launch her own star.
Sultan finally won a point thanks to its own play, and not missed Wolf serves, 24 points into the second set.
Which cut the lead to a modest 18-6, and with Lucero and Knoblich returning to the service line, things still ended quickly.
But not before Rogers bounced into frame once again, freezing two Turks and poking a tip between them for an especially sweet winner.
Jill Prince, Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson and Maya Lucero made positive splashes in the final set, while Allie Lucero, Gustafson, and Farris continued to spur chants of “ace, ace, ace” as they fired away at will.
The match ended with two plays which perfectly summed up the night.
Down 24-6, Sultan obtained only its second point off of its own play, followed by Knoblich launching herself airborne and smoking a set-ending kill approximately 1.3 seconds later.
The young Wolves filled up the stat sheet, with Gustafson (10), Allie Lucero (9), Knoblich (5), Rogers (4), Farris (4), and Jump (3) racking up aces.
Allie Lucero had 10 assists to pace her squad, while Rogers blasted a team-best six kills.
Coupeville Sports 