Chelsi Stevens and her fellow CMS spikers continue to show great growth. (Photo courtesy Kristi Stevens)
It was only the first chapter.
While the Coupeville Middle School volleyball squads fell at South Whidbey Wednesday, the Wolves will get an immediate chance at redemption.
That’s because the next-door neighbors are playing back-to-back matches with each other, with the South Enders scheduled to travel up to Cow Town Tuesday, Oct. 17 for a rematch.
That’s the home finale for Coupeville, and a perfect opportunity for Wolf Nation to pack the CMS gym and create a wall of sound.
With that in mind, how Wednesday played out:
Varsity:
Unforced errors stung the Wolves in a 25-17, 25-17, 15-8 loss.
“We started every set strong, but we had so many errors that led South Whidbey to take the lead mid set, while we kept trying to keep the ball in play,” said CMS coach Cris Matochi.
“South Whidbey is way better than they were last year,” he added. “They were keeping the ball in play very consistently.
“They have an incredible and well-trained libero that was running for everything. She is the backbone of their team.”
Matochi also praised the Cougar staff — “They have two great coaches that are doing an incredible job training those kids” — while finding positives for his team, as well.
“Now we know what they look like, and I hope that the players step up their game so we can fight for every point next week,” he said.
“Our setter Addy (Maynes) played her heart out,” Matochi added. “She was getting to every single ball, and she always plays with her full heart.”
Giving her some help is job #1 before the rematch.
“There is only so much a setter can do when the passes are not coming to her,” Matochi said.
“We will be focusing on our serve receive and serve, and keeping the ball in play as those two skills will be imperative for us to be able to perform well.”
The Wolf coach is already counting down the days until Coupeville gets a second crack at its archrivals.
“Next week we will need to fight, and it won’t be easy,” Matochi said. “I’m hoping that being at home and having our incredible fans will boost the players confidence and give them a boost.
“I’m hoping that the girls will use this opportunity to bring their A-game next week.”
JV – Team A:
“I feel like I always say this but, although my teams didn’t win the game, they played so well I couldn’t be happier with their growth and progress.”
That was the feeling Wolf coach Kristina Hooks carried away from Langley after her team bounced back to claim set #3 by a 16-14 score, after South Whidbey won the first two frames 25-14, 25-18.
Battling both talented rivals and their own frustration over some questionable calls from the ref — whose seeing-eye dog had been possibly locked out of the gym — the young Wolves got stronger as the match played out.
Hooks has been working with her players on passing — “That’s really the fundamental skill of volleyball” — and was pleased with her team’s growth.
“If you can’t pass, you can’t really do anything else and all of a sudden during this game their passes started being amazing,” she said.
“This was the first game where I had my players practice being setters and getting the second ball and Brooklyn (Pope) and Cami (Van Dyke) did amazing.
“They were running all over the court to get to that second ball.”
JV – Team B:
Growth was again the word of the day.
While the Wolves lost 25-19, 25-8, 15-7, Hooks sees progress every time out.
“This team’s performance had a significant increase from our last game,” she said. “They played so well.
“Their passes were doing really well, and almost all of my girls were making their serves over the net, which was amazing and a little surprising.”
On a team with very inexperienced players, Hooks especially enjoys seeing how her young spikers remain positive, helping each other.
“I love the girls on this team,” she said. “They’re all so sweet to each other.
“After every point, especially a mistake, they run towards their teammate that missed a serve or shanked a pass and are encouraging them; it’s the sweetest thing to see.”
