The Wolf spikers prepare to take the floor. (Michelle Armstrong photo)
There’s no quit in the Wolves.
Strictly by the numbers, Saturday’s season opener for the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad presented a fairly stiff challenge.
The Wolves rep a 2B school, while their foe, Mariner, hails from 4A, the biggest classification in the state.
In terms of bodies in the building, the Marauders hold a 1,559 to 192 advantage according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
And yet, there were the scrappy Wolves, fighting until the final point and pushing Mariner hard before finally falling in four titanic sets.
The 25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17 win for the visitors came in their fifth match of the year, while Scout Smith’s squad only had a jamboree previously under their belt.
Mariner, which had superior height and power, largely controlled the first set, though there were moments where Coupeville broke through.
Sophomore Kennedy O’Neill collected three winners off a variety of spikes and tips, while Arianna Cunningham and Lexis Drake bounded high to team up on a block which denied the Marauders.
Fab frosh Zariyah Allen (16) and Rhylee Inman soar at the net. (Shaloma Allen photo)
Equally impressive were freshmen Zariyah Allen and Rhylee Inman, who both saw major floor time in their debut and responded to the moment.
The duo held up well against the Marauders, who leveled a few nuclear blasts at the net, and kept coming back for more.
Jump to the second set, and the Wolves played their best ball.
Well, in the beginning and the end. Maybe not the middle so much.
Coupeville bolted out to a 10-3 lead with Cunningham ripping off a seven-point run on her serve, before Drake pasted a winner off the back line to put the Marauders on their heels.
But only for a moment, as Mariner rallied to pull ahead 17-13 after a 14-3 surge.
Proving the second set would give both teams a bit of whiplash, things fell back in favor of the Wolves, who pulled themselves off the floor to close the set on a 12-5 tear.
Capri Anter and Cunningham put together solid runs at the service stripe during the set-sealing rally, with Tenley Stuurmans piercing the defense with deft play while stalking the net.
With the set knotted at 22-22, Coupeville found the perfect closer, times three.
Cunningham unleashed a service ace, Drake smacked a winner off the last paint fleck on the back line, and Allen won a tip battle to seal the deal, tying things at a set apiece.
That momentum carried over into the third frame, with CHS bolting out to a 10-6 lead thanks to Haylee Armstrong saving several runaway balls, Willow Leedy-Bonifas knifing Mariner with pinpoint serves and Allen making the net a no-fly zone.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, that was where things fell apart a bit, as Mariner snatched back the advantage thanks to a couple of spikes to the face (often literally) en route to finishing the set on a 19-8 surge.
Stuurmans had a couple more rocket launches of her own still to fire in the final set, but the Marauders refused to let Coupeville force things to a fifth and deciding set.
With their first stern test out of the way, the Wolves return to action next week, trekking to South Whidbey Wednesday and playing a home rumble Friday with Orcas Island.
Saturday stats:
Zariyah Allen — 5 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, two solo blocks
Capri Anter — 3 digs, 1 assist
Haylee Armstrong — 13 digs, 5 assists, 2 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 4 kills, 4 digs, 1 block assist, 5 aces
Lexis Drake — 2 kills, 1 block assist
Rhylee Inman — 2 assists
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 1 kill, 25 digs, 3 aces
Isa Mc Fetridge — 1 dig, 1 ace
Kennedy O’Neill — 3 kills
Tenley Stuurmans — 4 kills, 14 digs, 8 assists, 2 solo blocks, 1 ace
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