Lexis Drake unleashes an ace. (Photo courtesy Willow Vick)
Welcome to the royal rumble.
Next-door neighbors clashed on the volleyball court Monday, the first of two matches in a three-day span between middle school spikers from Coupeville and South Whidbey.
The Wolves hosted Monday, and travel to Langley Wednesday for the season finale, putting an all-Whidbey spin on the end of the season.
As expected, the CMS gym was jam-packed, the noise was ever-increasing, and the level of play was often inspired.
How the first showdown played out:
Varsity:
Big plays down the stretch from Haylee Armstrong, Tenley Stuurmans, and Capri Anter proved to be the difference, with Coupeville coming out on top in a 25-17, 22-25, 15-9 thriller.
The win lifts the Wolves to 4-3 heading into their season finale and earned a roar of approval from coaches Cris Matochi and Raven Vick.
Coupeville was missing a key player, with Adeline Maynes out of town, but the aforementioned trio combined with Rhylin Price and Lexis Drake to stand their ground.
Toss in swing players Emma Leavitt, Kee’Arya Brown, and Willow Leedy-Bonifas, who all came up big while playing with the top squad, and it was a true total team effort.
“We did a really good job of recovering when down,” Matochi said.
“When we focus on getting three touches and playing good, smart volleyball, rather than desperate volleyball, good things happen for us.”
The match was a barnburner from the start, with Coupeville having to fight back from an early deficit.
Key to the rally was players sacrificing themselves, whether it was Anter sliding on her knees to pluck a ball off the court, or Armstrong pulling off a miraculous play on a point CMS should have lost.
Trying to rally from deep on the court, the Wolves banged the ball off the gym ceiling, possibly narrowly missing a wandering bird which spent much of the match flying back and forth in captivity.
The ball was headed to the floor at rocket speed, coming in at an awkward angle, and South Whidbey’s players were already celebrating.
Not a smart move.
Armstrong, busting her butt even to get near the ball, lunged, made contact, and not only hit the orb, but sent it spinning back over her shoulder.
Ball flies very far and clears the net, somehow.
Ball splashes down for a winner, leaving the visitors looking foolish.
Armstrong gets jumped by a madly celebrating pack of teammates, while the look on her face very clearly says “I’ll do it again!”
A miracle in three acts.
But, even with plays like that, the Wolves still trailed at 14-12, with South Whidbey on its serve.
Not a problem, it turns out, as CMS promptly earned a side-out, got strong service runs from Stuurmans, Anter, and Price, and closed the set on a 13-3 tear.
Price was a terror everywhere she bounded, rising up to flick a winner at the net, before closing the set by winning the final five points on her serve.
Her best offering?
A laser which caught the top of the net, flipped over, smacked off a South Whidbey player’s shoulder, and shot off into the stands as her classmates thumped the bleachers in approval.
The visitors may have dropped the first set but proved to be resilient in the middle frame.
South Whidbey jumped to a 10-2 lead, gave it all back as Coupeville rallied to knot things at 16-16, then held on for dear life in the late moments.
Even down 24-20, the Wolves didn’t go quietly, holding off two set points before a CMS serve went a millimeter long at 24-22.
Stuurmans, flying up to high-five the bird in the gym rafters, paused long enough to deliver a tip winner on what might have been the prettiest play of the afternoon.
With the match locked at a set apiece, Cris Matochi pulled his players in close, imparting some of the wisdom he accrued during his own stellar playing career.
Or he simply told them, “Go kick some fanny!”
Either way, it worked.
Stuurmans opened the pared-down set with a five-point run on serve, giving the Wolves a third of the necessary 15 points for a win, and the beat-down was on.
Armstrong came up huge with a pair of winners — one on a flip, one on a ball she crushed right down main street — while Anter walloped a kill which kissed the floor in the far corner before skidding away to freedom.
With the match on the line, though, it was Leavitt and Drake who delivered soul-crushing service aces.
Leavitt drilled back-to-back winners, one ace creasing a rival’s face as it exploded off her arm, while the other dropped suddenly, causing a swing and miss.
Dropping the final punctuation mark, Drake bashed a mile-high serve which arced over the entire South Whidbey defense before crashing back to Earth right on the backline.
“I think this was the best match this season for Lexis,” Raven Vick said. “She had a really good run of serves.”
JV:
Coupeville jumped on South Whidbey to claim the first set, but couldn’t quite hold on in a 19-25, 25-11, 15-6 loss.
Strong work at the service line was key to claiming the opening frame.
Leavitt, Brown, Leedy-Bonifas, Cheyanne Atteberry, and Olivia Martin all lashed winners for CMS, with Martin dropping an especially sweet ace on a ball which nipped the net as it went by, then fell off the edge of the world.
South Whidbey, which benefited (today, if not in the future) from having every player launch underhanded moonballs at the service stripe, eventually wore down the more-adventurous Wolves.
Before they did, however, Coupeville got strong work from Myra McDonald, who patrolled the middle of the floor and spun a variety of winners past the South Whidbey defense.
One second, she was flipping a ball low and deadly, the next she was lobbing the rock over her shoulder, artfully delivering her team a point even while looking at the back wall.
The Wolves also got hustle plays from Alyssa McGee and several service winners off of the deadly fingers of Isabella Bowder.
“Izzy and Olivia (Martin) have really been working hard on their serves,” Raven Vick said. “And Myra gave us a lot of energy today.
“I’m impressed with all the girls!”
Coupeville Sports 