Grey Peabody dominated at the net Thursday, sparking Coupeville to a key league win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
They’re on a tear.
Since coming dangerously close to ending four-time defending 2B state champ La Conner’s 12+ year conference winning streak in a five-set thriller, the Coupeville High School varsity spikers have rocked their foes.
The Wolves have won four straight, with win #4 coming at home Thursday against Mount Vernon Christian.
Coming from behind to nail down a 19-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15 victory, CHS improves to 3-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-4 overall.
Up next for the Wolves are back-to-back non-conference matches, with Providence Classical Christian (10-5) coming to Whidbey Monday, Oct. 16.
The next night, Coupeville enjoys a bus trip to Seattle to square off with The Bush School, which sits at 5-6.
Thursday’s win capped a week in which the Wolves won two of two in their own gym while dealing with all the side events associated with Homecoming.
“Really good team win tonight and super proud of the girls for their maturity as they fought through each set,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.
“MVC is much improved from previous seasons, and we knew we’d need to show up.”
The Hurricanes, who, like Coupeville, upended La Conner during the South Whidbey Invite, came out strongly, but the Wolves responded in kind.
“We played well even in dropping the first set, but MVC played very tenacious and very clean out of the gates,” Whitmore said.
“That’s the maturity and resiliency I’m proud of with the win tonight – they continued to trust and stick to our systems and just elevate it within the game plan, and it really panned out.”
Stellar play at the service stripe was key to the win.
Issabel Johnson cracks off a fearsome serve. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
“We HAD to serve tough tonight and that was where we came up big with all six servers,” Whitmore said.
“Our best set was the second, where we only committed two errors the entire set which is difficult to pull off while remaining aggressive.”
Across the board, the Wolves brought ferocious play to the floor.
“Madison (McMillan) covered so much of the court and just pinpointed her serving locations tonight,” Whitmore said.
“Katie (Marti) did a great job of distributing the ball. She made really smart choices and delivered the ball to her hitters, keeping them in rhythm.”
In particular, the fiery setter was on the same wavelength with senior slugger Grey Peabody.
“Katie and Grey really connected, but Grey was so smart tonight with her ball placement and aggressiveness on the overpasses,” Whitmore said.
“She also had to adjust her block and made it happen on the fly.”
While Peabody slammed home 12 kills, junior Mia Farris was hot on her heels, peppering the Hurricanes with 11 winners of her own.
“Mia had the offensive game she (and everyone) knew she could,” Whitmore said. “She’s been working so hard on her attack approach, and it popped tonight.
“She was zeroed in on the service line, and had such an air of confidence, there were moments that she truly took over the set.”
As Coupeville heads into Friday’s Homecoming parade and football game, and Saturday’s dance, the spikers are flying high, as they should be.
The Wolves celebrate another win. (Jackie Saia photo)
“They had to maintain a high level of energy and focus for a significant amount of time, and so I’m very proud of the way they pulled together to make it happen,” Whitmore said.
“Fun to get a Homecoming win.”
Thursday stats:
Taylor Brotemarkle — 2 digs
Teagan Calkins — 4 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces, 1 solo block, 2 block assists
Mia Farris — 11 kills, 8 digs, 6 aces, 1 solo block
Jada Heaton — 1 dig
Issabel Johnson — 1 ace
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 5 digs, 27 assists, 8 aces
Madison McMillan — 17 digs, 2 assists, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 12 kills, 3 solo blocks, 2 block assists
Lyla Stuurmans — 7 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace, 2 solo blocks
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