Katie Marti was outstanding Monday, sparking Coupeville’s JV to a win over South Whidbey. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
They delivered the full experience.
The Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad started feisty and resilient Monday, before finishing dominant and devastating.
Crushing visiting South Whidbey 25-18, 25-22, 15-5 in a non-conference rumble, the Wolves raised their record to a sparkling 5-1 on the season.
And they did it by getting contributions from all nine players in uniform, with coach Ashley Menges expertly mixing and matching her lineup all night.
The opening set was a battle, with South Whidbey jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead before the Wolves found their mojo.
Freshman Taylor Brotemarkle turned things around with a fairly eye-popping play, launching a shot up and over her head while facing away from the net, with the ball splashing down behind the Falcon heavy hitters.
Katie Marti and Mia Farris both ripped off nice runs at the service stripe in the aftermath, with CHS coming all the way back to take a 13-10 lead.
No lead was safe in the opening set, however, as the two teams traded body blows.
South Whidbey went ahead 15-13, Coupeville rebounded thanks to a smokin’ hot spike off the fingertips of Madison McMillan, then the Falcons rallied again.
With the set knotted at 17-17, everyone was waiting for a hero to step up and claim the day.
And lo and behold one did, and her name was Gwen Gustafson.
Going airborne with a lil’ hop, the Wolf powerhouse unleashed a scorcher which melted the kneecaps off several South Whidbey players as it came back to Earth, melting a hole in the floor.
This time, Coupeville didn’t let loose of the lead, using service runs by Marti and Gustafson to close out the set on an 8-1 run.
The final shot was a delightful drop shot by Marti, who danced away, huge smile on her face.
That feeling lasted for a good stretch of the second set, as the Wolves used winners from Grey Peabody, McMillan, Marti, and Gustafson to stay within 10-9.
At which point the bottom fell out of Coupeville’s offense for a bit.
Eight points later, the Wolves were staring up at an 18-9 deficit, and might have been forgiven for closing up shop and moving on to the decisive third set.
But wait, not so fast.
Aby Wood cranked a huge spike down the right side of the floor to stop the bleeding, and that opened the magical floodgates.
Brotemarkle and Issabel Johnson each notched a couple of points at the service line, McMillan went on a mini-tear of aces, and the Wolves fought all the way back to 21-21.
A shell-shocked South Whidbey squad inched back ahead, for a half-second, at 22-21, but the flood had become a tsunami.
Marti and Wood delivered the final daggers, thrashing balls off of Falcon arms, and Coupeville concluded a set-ending 16-4 run which brought the home crowd to its feet, and kept them there.
Jada Heaton (10), Aby Wood, and Co. are an impressive 5-1 on the season.
With the match decided, the teams played a cut-down third set to get a little more practice time in, though many of the South Whidbey players had seemingly mentally checked out by that point.
Unable to recover after being staggered, the Falcons were deer in the headlight in the third set, with Brotemarkle, McMillan, and Marti serving the visitors into oblivion.
Farris capped things with a splendid running tip for a winner, her fingers flicking the ball one way while the Falcons went the other, and the day was done.
It’s a performance the Wolves will look to duplicate Tuesday, when they travel to Friday Harbor for a Northwest 2B/1B League match.
Coupeville is a pristine 4-0 in conference action, while the Friday Harbor JV is 1-2.
Coupeville Sports 