Hope Lodell, seen here in an earlier match, lit the fire for Coupeville Thursday, dropping in nine service aces. (John Fisken photo)
Pink jerseys and hair ribbons were on display as the Wolves held a breast cancer awareness night. (Photo courtesy Valen Trujillo)
Tiffany Briscoe celebrates with Wolf gridiron star (and enthusiastic volleyball fan) Jacob Martin. (Amy Briscoe photo)
They were feeling it.
Riding a wave of energy from an amped-up student cheering section, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad roared back to stagger visiting Chimacum Thursday night, forcing a tie for second place in the 1A Olympic League standings.
Sparked by spectacular serving from Hope Lodell and an aggressive team-wide approach to hitting, the Wolves knocked off the pesky Cowboys 20-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-15.
The win, avenging a tough five-set loss to Chimacum earlier in the season, a night when the Cowboy JV outshouted the Wolf fans, was sweet for all involved.
As her players whooped and the remaining fans stomped the bleachers, CHS coach Breanne Smedley beamed.
“The best we’ve played; we stayed focused on winning the next point, moving ahead,” she said. “The girls are making it not “about me,” but “about the team,” which is very nice to see.”
The victory lifted Coupeville to 2-2 in league play, 4-8 overall.
The Wolves are tied with Chimacum (2-2, 7-7) two games behind Klahowya (4-0, 7-6) and two ahead of Port Townsend (0-4, 1-9) with two to play.
CHS travels to Klahowya Monday, then hosts Port Townsend Thursday on Senior Night.
The top three teams make the postseason — something the Wolf spikers did not do last year — and Coupeville is one win or one RedHawk loss from clinching a berth.
The Wolves started things with a bang Thursday, as sophomore Katrina McGranahan pounded a spike between two Cowboys to open the night’s scoring.
After that, the first set was a herky-jerky affair, with Coupeville strong at first (winners from McKenzie Bailey and Kyla Briscoe) then surprisingly unfocused for a bit, then offering a late rally that fell just short.
The second set was a different matter.
Lodell joined the action and her presence in the lineup immediately gave the Wolves a noticeable jolt.
The high-jumping sophomore was on fire at the service stripe (she would finish with nine aces on the night) and Coupeville claimed the early lead and never relinquished it.
Clinging to a 13-12 lead, the Wolves ripped control of the set away when McGranahan came roaring up on the outside, mashing a frozen rope of a spike that dug a trench three feet deep as it exploded on the end line for a winner.
Chimacum buckled and went down meekly, with the Kat Attack continuing.
Ally Roberts dropped in a gorgeous tear-drop tip over the heads of two players, Bailey touched the gym ceiling as she soared to reject a Cowboy shot and then McGranahan closed out the set with a six-point run on serve.
With the joint jumpin’, though, things took a sharp left turn.
As quickly as they had seized control, the Wolves threw it away, falling behind 7-0 in the third set.
Enter The Surgeon and exit Chimacum’s heart.
Operating with an uncanny precision, Lodell zipped serves to the right, to the left, right down the middle and off of the elbows and knees of flailing Cowboys.
One of the few times Chimacum mounted any kind of return, a brief rally broke out only to be brought to a screeching halt by Roberts and McGranahan, who teamed for an emphatic stuff at the net.
Still, despite battling back ferociously, Coupeville couldn’t quite seem to get over the last hump.
Seven ties, but only one momentary lead at 8-7, and then the Wolves found themselves down 23-20, returning serve.
Never fear.
The Wolves thwarted a Chimacum stuff attempt, before handing the ball to a Keebler Elf with ice water running in her veins.
Lauren Rose is as steady a player as there is in Wolf Nation, in any sport, and I swear I have never seen her miss a serve in almost two full seasons.
Barely cocking one eyebrow (she was so calm, you had to look really closely to see if she was still breathing), Keebs laid down four straight winners.
The final one? An ace that ripped a small divot out of the back line and tore a much bigger chunk out of the Chimacum coach’s heart.
As the rival spiker guru howled in a mix of agony, disbelief and wonderment, Rose strolled past, moving McConaughey-style, her quiet smile uttering a very loud “Alright, alright, alright.”
Their spirit broken, the Cowboys went down quickly in the night’s final set, aided by a couple of laser spikes off of Tiffany Briscoe’s fingertips and a sensational save on a play by Emma Smith.
The freshman, maybe the tallest player on the Wolf squad, was headed to the floor and caught in an awkward position almost beneath the net, yet still managed to punch the ball skyward at the last second, keeping a key rally going for a few more seconds.
As the now hoarse-voiced crowd filtered out, all that was left to do for the Wolves was add up their stats.
Roberts and Tiffany Briscoe led the way with eight kills apiece (Rally Ally had a perfect hitting night, with no errors) while Rose and Sydney Autio both chipped in with 12 assists.
Working the back line and picking up another two dozen floor burns for her ever-growing collection, Wolf libero Valen Trujillo came away with 16 digs.
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