Wolf freshmen (l to r) Maddy Hilkey, Emma Smith and Ashley Menges bask in a win. (Jennifer Menges photo)
Valen Trujillo gets carried away by Payton Aparicio (left) and Hope Lodell. (Photo courtesy Trujillo)
No mercy. No hesitation.
Putting together its most complete match of the season, including fully applying the choke hold when the time was right, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad cruised to a win Thursday night.
The 25-12, 25-20, 25-9 dismantling of visiting Port Townsend was a textbook example of one team firmly stomping on another.
It lifted the Wolves to 2-6, gave them a huge jolt of confidence heading into conference play and was a complete reversal from their last home match, when they squandered a two-set lead.
This match, like that one against Chimacum, were “non-conference” matches against 1A Olympic League rivals, added at the last second to bulk up the schedule.
Neither the brutal five-set loss to the Cowboys or the three-set romp over the RedHawks will count in the battle for playoff berths.
Only the next six matches — two each against Klahowya, Chimacum and Port Townsend in a run that kicks off Oct. 13 — truly matter as the Wolves vie for a league crown and/or a trip to the postseason.
But, since four of those six matches are against teams they manhandled (they were crushing Chimacum before a late letdown), spirits have to be high.
Jumping right into things Thursday, as Port Townsend no longer fields a JV squad, the Wolves thundered out to a quick lead.
Katrina McGranahan provided the first of many emphatic winners, jolting the RedHawks with a laser-tipped spike that exploded and scorched shoelaces as it skidded off.
Building off the moment, Hope Lodell, AKA “The Surgeon,” immediately went to work carving up Port Townsend from the service stripe.
She dropped in an ace, then ripped off a serve that nicked a hunk of flesh out of a rival player’s arm as it ricocheted away.
Already jumpy, the RedHawks were back-pedaling, but not fast enough.
A brief rally went Coupeville’s way, as freshman Emma Smith climbed the stairway to heaven for a second-chance spike that went screaming down, deflating whatever brief spark of resistance was still lodged in the Redhawks hearts.
From there, the first set played out almost completely in favor of the Wolves, whether it was Payton Aparicio windmilling a spike for a winner or Lauren “Keebler Elf” Rose closing things out with five straight serves, none of which were returned back over the net.
The second set was more of the same, with Sydney Autio kicking things off with a long run at the service line and Smith and McGranahan being joined by McKenzie Bailey as a three-headed spiking machine.
At a crucial point, Port Townsend rallied to knot things up at 16, but The Surgeon immediately resurfaced, painting the corners like a pro.
Lodell zipped an ace down the left side that caught a fleck of paint on the line to stay in, then launched her next serve down the right side, with the result the same.
The match could have ended after two sets, with Bailey rising up and putting down the final winner like a beast, causing six sets of shoulders to slump on Port Townsend’s side of the net.
But, the rules require best three of five, so the two teams played on, though, this time, Coupeville never let its foot off the gas pedal.
A nice run on serve from Tiffany Briscoe, a beautiful tip from Kyla Briscoe that slid between two defenders, freezing them in place, and a whiplash-inducing spike off of Ally Robert’s fingertips set the stage, with Autio providing the final punctuation.
Up 22-7, the CHS senior unleashed a serve that not only hit for an ace, but caused two Port Townsend girls to run into each other while simultaneously whiffing on the ball.
RedHawks down in a heap, while the Wolves whooped it up as a team at mid-court — the perfect symbol for the night’s romp.
After the Chimacum collapse, Coupeville coach Breanne Smedley has seen her squad rise back up to fight exceptionally hard in a narrow road loss at Bellevue Christian, then cream Port Townsend.
“We’ve been focusing on working on mental toughness, practicing pressure situations, and it paid off,” she said. “We’re getting them to believe in themselves.”
With her team sailing along, Smedley gave all of her bench playing time, including freshmen Maddy Hilkey, Ashley Menges and Sarah Wright, who were swinging up from the JV team.
Bailey pounded out a team-high nine kills, libero Valen Trujillo compiled a 2.7 passing average (“Her best of the season!”) and Autio racked up nine aces and 11 assists.
McGranahan tossed in five kills, Trujillo had six digs and Lodell dropped in five service aces.
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