Joey Lippo contemplates attacking the cameraman. (John Fisken photos)
William Nelson gets elegant.
Now they wait six months and hope for a miracle.
Coupeville High School netters William Nelson and Joey Lippo went back to Tacoma Tuesday for one more round of postseason action, but failed to get the win they needed to guarantee their season would continue.
The Wolf juniors got stronger as the match progressed, but couldn’t overcome their private school foes, falling 6-1, 7-5 to Micha Wibowo and Jack Jorgenson of Charles Wright Academy.
With the win, the CWA duo claimed second place at the 1A West Central District tennis tourney, giving the Tarriers a sweep of the top two doubles slots.
Wibowo and Jorgenson will join district champs Dylan Sam and Raghav Agrawal at the state tourney in Yakima next spring.
For the Coupeville pair, who finished third in a field of eight teams at districts, their season is 99.98% done.
Why not 100%?
Because Washington state high school sports are a mess.
Some schools play boys tennis in the fall (like CHS), while a ton wait until the spring.
With that in mind, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association doesn’t announce state tourney allocations for each district until May, regardless of when that district plays.
Coupeville’s current home, District 3, is guaranteed two state slots, and there’s a (very) slim chance of landing a third.
Which means you can hold onto hope even if longtime Wolf coach Ken Stange admitted earlier in the week it would be “very unlikely.”
Of course, six months is a long time, and if something were to happen to either Charles Wright duo (skiing accidents? alien abduction? bribes?), Coupeville is first up as an alternate, as well.
If nothing else, Nelson and Lippo, who should be playing soccer and baseball, respectively, when spring arrives, led a strong Wolf showing in the postseason.
After winning its second straight 1A Olympic League title, Coupeville advanced eight netters to districts, most of any team there, and most in Stange’s decade-plus run as the school’s net guru.
Singles players Nick Etzell and Jakobi Baumann and doubles duos Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin and Grey Rische/Jimmy Myers joined Lippo and Nelson at districts.
Of that group, Etzell, Baumann, Lippo and Nelson are underclassmen and can return next season.
