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Posts Tagged ‘CHS Wolves’

With great power comes great wins

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Wolf seniors (l to r) Lyla Stuurmans, Jada Heaton, and Taylor Brotemarkle are off to a great start. (Jennifer Heaton photo)

The gym was different, the result the same.

Playing at home for the first time this season Thursday, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad kept its perfect streak going.

Sweeping visiting Mount Vernon Christian 25-17, 25-15, 25-7 on Madison McMillan’s cake day, the Wolves get to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-0 overall.

They haven’t dropped a set in regular season play, and certainly weren’t about to start against the Hurricanes.

Other than brief burps at the start of the first two sets, CHS led start to finish, with spry setter Katie Marti flying around, feeding a variety of big hitters who hammered winners upon winners.

MVC did lead 3-2 in the opening set, but then the Wolves promptly roared to life.

Bounding all around the court, Lyla Stuurmans and Teagan Calkins took turns delivering crisp winners which sliced off kneecaps and left the Hurricanes to wonder if their life insurance policies were paid up.

When the duo wasn’t banging away, they also delivered savage barbs with a poke here, a tip there, always keeping the ball just out of range of their rival hitters.

Add in some titanic mashes exploding off of the deadly fingers of Mia Farris as she swooped in from the side, and Jada Heaton up on her toes, ready to dominate at the net, and Coupeville was in full-on kill mode.

The ever-calm (even on her birthday) McMillan and the indispensable Taylor Brotemarkle dug deep to pull balls off the floor, with Marti cavorting from side to side, taking their setups and lofting the ball to her snipers.

Birthday girl Madison McMillan contemplates how hard she would have to hit the volleyball to make it explode. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Flush from the success of the first set, the second frame went down much the same.

Coupeville dominated, the Hurricanes fought back with a never-say-die spirit, and then the Wolves beat the air right out of the ball.

Farris, in full-on Mia the Magnificent mode, lashed a huge spike that tore off a chunk of the floor.

To which Stuurmans responded, “I can do that too,” as she bounded skyward and sent a missile screaming past a Hurricane defender who wisely decided that no, she didn’t really want to try and return that one.

Enter “The Red Dragon,” AKA Teagan Calkins, who, perhaps channeling Austin Powers, stated that she too liked to live dangerously.

And by live dangerously, she meant “hit the volleyball so hard it goes blind.”

Teagan Calkins drops a winner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

If MVC thought the explosion at the power factory was done after the second set, it was sadly mistaken, since set three was nothing but non-stop bicep-poppin’, big-hittin’ fun for the Wolves.

McMillan punctuated her day of birth by firing a bullet which caught the corner of the court for a point, and a look at this reporter’s notebook reveals the following from set #3:

“Lyla bomb.”

“Mia laser.”

“Lyla mash.”

“Mia freakin’ massacred the ball.”

At the end of the fireworks show, the night’s final point was maybe the most impressive, while featuring artistry over pure firepower.

Scrambling madly towards the CHS bench (with a 24-7 lead), Marti stretched out to her full length and caught an out-of-control ball before it could get away.

Spinning it back over her head, she (somehow) sent it on a dime to Stuurmans, who sliced the ball across the top of the net.

Startled that the ball was coming back in her direction after the play seemed all but dead, a Hurricane hitter punched at the ball and sent it sailing far away into the night, ending things and sending the Wolves into a celebration.

In a match in which 10 girls hit the floor — Tenley Stuurmans, Aby Wood, and Dakota Strong also got floor time late — Coupeville got the nod of approval from coach Cory Whitmore.

“It was good to work through a couple of things,” he said. “We looked pretty sharp and controlled the first ball pretty well.

“What’s exciting about this group is they find the hitter with the hot hand, even if that changes from set to set and night to night.”

 

Milestone moments:

Both Calkins and Marti hit round numbers recently, Whitmore said.

Marti, a senior, nailed her 100th career ace at the service stripe during last weekend’s SunDome Volleyball Festival, and sits at 105 and counting.

Meanwhile, Calkins, a junior, reached 100 career kills during the last regular season match against Friday Harbor. With six more Thursday against MVC, she’s up to 112 for her prep career.

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 6 digs
Teagan Calkins — 6 kills, 4 digs, 3 aces
Mia Farris — 4 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces
Jada Heaton— 1 kill, 1 dig
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 8 digs, 19 assists, 1 block assist, 2 aces
Madison McMillan — 4 kills, 12 digs, 2 aces
Lyla Stuurmans — 10 kills, 7 digs, 1 solo block, 1 block assist, 1 ace
Tenley Stuurmans — 1 ace

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Hurricanes nip Wolf JV spikers

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Haylee Armstrong (left) and Ari Cunningham discuss strategy. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They won the battle and lost the war.

Playing from behind in every set Thursday, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad held off four match points and actually won one more point than visiting Mount Vernon Christian.

But the game of spikes and digs is decided by capturing sets, and not total points, so a 62-61 advantage couldn’t net the Wolves a win, as they fell 20-25, 26-24, 15-13.

The loss, coming in Coupeville’s home opener, drops the JV spikers to 1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-1 overall.

The young Wolves proved to be a scrappy bunch but did most of their best work Thursday after digging a big hole for themselves.

CHS trailed 12-4 in the opening set, before sophomore Dakota Strong lashed a winner at the net to key the turnaround.

Bit by bit the Wolves got back into the match, picking up points on serves from Tenley Stuurmans, Ari Cunningham, and Haylee Armstrong, but were still down 18-14 when Capri Anter stepped to the line.

Dropping bombs on the Hurricanes, and getting some help from Stuurmans, who netted a sweet runner that dropped over the heads of a pack of defenders, Anter shoved Coupeville back into the lead.

Six straight points on serve gave the Wolves a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, with Cunningham and Stuurmans coming up big at crunch time.

The set-winning point was a note-perfect shot from fab frosh Stuurmans, who drew the defense in, flicked a winner between Hurricane players, then calmly strolled away, small smile on her face.

Tenley Stuurmans is here to deliver winners.

Unfortunately for Coupeville, as soon as it had the advantage, it gave it right back to MVC.

A couple of slow stretches offensively left the Wolves in another hole, this time at 13-7, before the hometown hitters once again rallied.

Adeline Maynes cranked back-to-back aces, coming right after Lexis Drake stuffed the visitors on a play set up by a great dive from Cunningham to keep the action alive.

Coupeville finally reclaimed the lead at 23-22, courtesy a strong run at the service stripe from Armstrong, only for MVC to escape and knot things up at a set apiece.

There were two ties in the final set, at 1-1 and 4-4, before the ‘Canes pulled away seemingly for good.

With things going to 15, and not 25, Mount Vernon staked itself to a 14-9 lead, only to see the Wolves mount a comeback that almost made it all the way.

With Anter peppering the visitors from the line, Coupeville held off four match points and had a chance to force a tie at 14-14, only to be denied by a ball which missed the endline by a whisker.

While the loss stings, the Wolf JV spikers, who celebrated Isa Mc Fetridge’s birthday Thursday, will get back at it.

Next up is a road trip to La Conner Tuesday, Sept. 24, then a home tilt with Darrington two days later.

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — 4 kills, 8 digs, 5 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 8 digs, 1 ace
Ari Cunningham — 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace
Lexis Drake — 1 solo block, 2 aces
Adeline Maynes — 5 digs, 4 assists, 3 aces
Dakota Strong — 2 kills
Tenley Stuurmans — 6 kills, 1 dig, 5 assists, 2 aces

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Quick work, lopsided win

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Adeline Maynes flips a pass skyward. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Only the siren call of the ferry could slow them down.

Playing second Tuesday, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad destroyed host Friday Harbor 25-7 in the opening set of their match.

Then the Wolves had to skedaddle, as the clock was running down, the Washington State ferry system was unreliable, and no one wanted to stay on a strange chunk of rock an extra night.

While the match was shorter than anticipated, the win lifts Coupeville’s second unit to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play.

Next up is a home match Thursday against Mount Vernon Christian, with the promise that ferries won’t matter, and the entire rumble will go down before anyone has to call it quits.

Coupeville coach Ashley Menges would have liked to have seen her squad stay on the floor longer but was philosophical about things.

“It was good, we got to get a lot of players in, and we were just lucky we got to play at all,” she said.

 

Tuesday stats:

Capri Anter — 1 kill, 2 digs, 2 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 3 aces
Ari Cunningham — 1 kill
Lexis Drake — 2 kills, 1 ace
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 2 aces
Adeline Maynes — 4 assists, 4 aces
Chelsi Stevens — 1 kill
Sydney Van Dyke — 1 kill

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Spikers sweep to second win

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Lyla Stuurmans pounds the ball. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Another day, another sweep.

Surviving a trip to the outer islands Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad rolled to a win in its conference opener.

Polishing off host Friday Harbor 25-19, 25-12, 25-11, the Wolves get to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play.

The CHS spikers also hand their coach a milestone, as the victory is the 90th for Cory Whitmore during his time with the Wolf volleyball program.

Coupeville, coming off a strong showing at the SunDome Volleyball Festival, hasn’t dropped a set in its first two regular season matches.

And while Friday Harbor gave the Wolves a little bit of a battle in the opener, after that Whitmore’s assassins went methodically to work.

“We cleaned it up after a bit of a sloppy first set and took care of business in the second and third,” he said.

Key to the win was Coupeville’s ability to respond strongly on first ball contacts, with senior setter Katie Marti running a fairly clean offense.

Twin terrors Lyla Stuurmans and Teagan Calkins rained down 11 kills apiece, with both big-ball hitters racking up a torrid hitting percentage.

Next up is Coupeville’s home debut Thursday, with the Wolves taking the court against visiting Mount Vernon Christian in another league tilt.

Between then and now, the Wolves will look to fine-tune things, while keeping their eyes firmly focused on the prize.

“We are going to be working on cleaning up our serve for the situations we often face,” Whitmore said.

“But I was happy to see them rally themselves to a higher standard.”

 

Tuesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 2 digs
Teagan Calkins — 11 kills
Mia Farris — 5 kills, 3 digs, 1 solo block, 3 aces
Jada Heaton — 4 kills
Katie Marti — 3 kills, 5 digs, 25 assists, 2 aces
Madison McMillan — 1 kill, 7 digs, 8 aces
Lyla Stuurmans — 11 kills, 4 digs, 1 solo block, 6 aces
Tenley Stuurmans — 1 kill, 1 dig, 3 aces

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Some history, some frustration

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , on September 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Matthew Ward pushes the attack. (Finn Price photo)

Friday Harbor has been to the mountain top, while Coupeville is still trying to learn all the tricks of the ascent.

A Wolverines boys’ soccer program which has a state title in its resume showed calmness under pressure Tuesday, turning a one-goal game into a runaway win on the road.

Unable to hold on to an early lead, the CHS co-ed booters eventually fell 8-3 in a game in which the final score was a bit deceptive.

The non-conference loss to a conference team (just go with it) drops the Wolves to 0-2-1 on the still-young season.

While Coupeville coach Robert Wood was understandably frustrated afterward — “The captains and coaches are talking how and what needs to change to ensure we can hold a one-goal lead indefinitely” — the game was close for 50+ minutes.

Trailing just 4-3, the Wolves were looking to knot the score in the second half, only to watch Friday Harbor suddenly slip away.

Two goals in a 90-second span widened the margin to 6-3, before the Wolverines tacked on another pair of scores in the waning minutes.

Coupeville goaltender Hurlee Bronec had several strong saves in the second half, including one where he snuffed out a shot at point-blank range, but he was also under fire almost constantly.

Wolf goaltender Hurlee Bronec punishes the soccer ball. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A pair of yellow cards assessed to the Wolves also seemed to put a hitch in their get-up-and-go, and a late rally never materialized.

The loss came despite a strong offensive effort in the first half from Coupeville.

Playing their second-straight home game at Mickey Clark Field, the Wolves broke through first when Angel Partida bashed home a goal less than four minutes into play.

Netting his team-best third score of the season, he gave CHS an advantage which it didn’t hold for long.

Amid much confusion, Friday Harbor broke the plane of the goal (or did it?) to knot the game at 1-1, though it took the ref an eternity to signal the score as actually having happened.

The other five goals in the first half were far more convincing, starting with Wolf senior Preston Epp pulling off a sweet move after the opposing goalie tried, and failed, to clear the ball out in front of his net.

Instead of snatching the bouncing orb up, the Friday Harbor netminder poked at it with his leg but sent it right to Epp by accident.

Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Wolf sharpshooter promptly spanked the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the year, and eighth of his prep career.

Unfortunately for Coupeville, their foes then gave a preview of their lightning-fast ability to score, banking in three scores in a span of four minutes to reclaim the lead.

Trailing 4-2, the Wolves scored right before the end of the half, beating the clock and the odds when a long, booming shot by Cael Wilson took an advantageous bounce and nicked off of a defender.

Cael Wilson surveys the defense. (Finn Price photo)

Whether he knew it or not at the moment, Wilson, a current senior who has been a varsity player since 8th grade, became the first player in CHS soccer history to score in five separate seasons.

Known for his scrappy defense, he has also tallied seven goals, giving his family 20, when you add in the 13 scored by now-graduated older brother Aidan.

A third brother, freshman Edmund Wilson, also saw some varsity field time, then came back around to anchor the Wolf JV as they played a 30-minute “friendly” in their season debut as a team.

“It was really great to see the JV game,” Robert Wood said.

“The kids did well; many learning points, and honestly, they did really, really good for that being the first time they saw a live opponent.”

His fellow Wolf coach, Kimberly Kisch, agreed.

“Good to see some of the kids who aren’t especially experienced get out there and begin to put things together,” she said.

Brynn Parker and Josh Lujan, both returning from injury, drew praise for their play while 8th grader Brian Thompson set up Frankie Tenore, who drilled in a buzzer-beating goal on her final run of the day.

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