Katrina McGranahan, seen here in an earlier match, had four service aces Wednesday night. (John Fisken photos)
Freshman Lucy Sandahl helped lead the Wolf C-Team in its first match.
Coupeville struck first, Sequim struck last.
Facing off with a large 2A school on the second night of back-to-back home matches, the CHS spikers made a frequently-inspired stand Wednesday, but couldn’t upend a foe who played virtually error-free ball.
Despite taking an early lead in all three sets, the Wolves fell 25-17, 25-13, 26-24 in the non-conference tilt, dropping their record to 2-1 on the young season.
Sequim, which boasts seven seniors and four players five-foot-ten or taller, was patient, consistent and dangerous, a deadly combination.
That allowed the visitors to escape twice from perilous deficits in the third set.
Trailing 18-9, after six straight aces on serve from Wolf supernova Hope Lodell kick-started a Coupeville run, Sequim steadily chipped away at what could have been an insurmountable lead.
With their lead shrunk down to 21-20, CHS responded, reeling off three straight points, two off of superb serves from senior captain Valen Trujillo.
For a moment, it looked like the Wolves would force a fourth set.
But there was no break in Sequim’s rhythm, as it held off three consecutive set points, knotted things up, then pulled ahead for the final time.
When a Wolf spike went two inches long, the visitors pocketed their sixth straight point and strolled off with their second win of the season.
The first two sets played out similarly, as Coupeville jumped out to early leads (4-0 in the first and an admittedly slim 1-0 in the second), only to have Sequim steadily chip away and reclaim the momentum.
Still, Coupeville hung tough, with only one truly questionable stretch, when Sequim closed the second set on a 10-1 run.
Lodell had a very strong outing, flying around on offense and ripping off a team-high 10 aces at the service stripe.
Katrina McGranahan added four aces, Lauren Rose dealt out 11 assists, Trujillo and Payton Aparicio recorded 10 digs apiece and Mikayla Elfrank topped the kill list with five.
Most of those came in the third set, when the junior came alive, spraying winners from one side of the court to the other.
His team’s ability to rally when down was a true positive, said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.
“I was impressed with a lot of what I saw tonight,” he said. “We played the third set with our best consistency of the night and did some really good things against a strong team.
“I thought the energy was there to start, and our bench gave us a lot of support,” Whitmore added. “Lauren and Ashley (Menges) distributed the ball well and made good decisions, and I was happy with our hitting consistency tonight.”
The Wolves have five days to fine-tune their game before they play again, taking the court next week for two home non-conference matches (Sept. 20 vs. Bellevue Christian and Sept. 22 vs. North Mason).
After that, they start a string of three straight league matches.
JV falls in three:
Coupeville’s #2 squad played almost identically, jumping out to early leads in every set (8-1, 4-0 and 8-4) before Sequim methodically chipped away for a 25-23, 25-12, 15-13 win.
The loss dropped the Wolf JV to 2-1.
Serving was a strong point for Coupeville as Scout Smith ran off ten winners, Sarah Wright bedeviled Sequim with soft, slicing balls that died on rival players arms, and both Maya Toomey-Stout and Zoe Trujillo lashed gorgeous aces.
On offense, Hannah Davidson patrolled the net with a vengeance, with her highlight a hook shot of a spike, where she caught the ball over her head and spun it back for a winner.
C-Team debuts:
Coupeville, which has its largest roster in years, had the chance to play a third match for the first time in perhaps a decade.
While the young guns — Willow Vick, Emma Mathusek, Melia Welling, Peytin Vondrak, Raven Vick, Jillian Mayne and Lucy Sandahl — were nipped in straight sets, their play brought a smile to their coach’s face.
“They did really well,” Whitmore said. “They were in there, chasing down balls, learning how to adjust from playing slow to fast and back to slow.
“I saw a lot of progress.”
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