Jada Heaton, soaring in an earlier match, crunched two kills Monday night. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Consider it a bump in the road, with lessons learned.
At least that’s the hope for the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad, which dropped its first sets, and first match, Monday night.
Facing off with non-conference foe Cedar Park Christian-Bothell, the previously-undefeated Wolves fell 25-16, 25-13, 25-23 at home.
The loss drops Coupeville to 3-1 on the season, though it will get a chance to jump right back into action.
The Wolf JV heads to Darrington Wednesday for a Northwest 2B/1B League rumble, before appearing Saturday at a tourney in Oak Harbor.
The clash Monday with CPC reunited Coupeville with a former rival from the 1A North Sound Conference, and the private school spikers certainly played up to past performances.
Controlling the action most of the way, the visiting Eagles closed the first set on a 7-1 run to bust open what had been a fairly close battle.
Coupeville’s only lead in the first frame came at 2-1, but the Wolves did force three ties, the last at 8-8.
That came courtesy a zinger of a serve from Gwen Gustafson, the lone Wolf to put together a strong run at the service stripe in the early going.
Gustafson also had two of her team’s three biggest hits in the first set, launching a pair of sharply-angled kills to complement one by teammate Madison McMillan.
The second set may seem lopsided if you just look at the score, but Coupeville was in it for the first half, with six ties and a lead as late as 10-8.
Jada Heaton delivered a resounding kill which ripped down the middle of the court, rising up and smacking the crud out of the ball, to fuel the run.
Meanwhile, McMillan artfully dropped a pair of tip winners, and Grey Peabody stuffed a CPC hitter just as the Eagle was about to unload.
Madison McMillan (left) and Issabel Johnson both filled up the stat sheet.
Unfortunately, Cedar Park then hit a major hot streak, closing the set on a 17-3 tear to officially seal the win.
Despite the match being decided, the two teams had time to kill, so played a third set for practice, and it was a tense affair not decided until the final second.
Issabel Johnson, Mia Farris, and McMillan were sharp at the service line, with the latter running off six straight points to stake CHS to a 23-21 lead.
Cedar Park finally broke her run, however, then closed out the set and match for the sweep.
Monday stats:
Taylor Brotemarkle — 1 dig, 11 assists, 1 ace
Mia Farris — 1 kill, 1 ace
Gwen Gustafson — 5 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces
Jada Heaton — 2 kills, 1 dig, 1 assist
Issabel Johnson — 6 digs, 2 aces
Madison McMillan — 4 kills, 6 digs, 4 aces
Grey Peabody — 2 kills, 1 solo block
Aby Wood — 1 dig
