Katrina McGranahan, seen here in an earlier match, had two aces, four kills and three blocks Monday. (John Fisken photo)
Huge leaps and bounds.
A year ago, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad went 1-11 and failed to make the playoffs.
Jump forward to this season, and the Wolves are postseason bound and now capable of pushing the league champs hard.
Coupeville did lose Monday, falling 25-15, 25-20, 26-28, 25-21 at Klahowya, which allowed the Eagles to officially clinch the 1A Olympic League title.
But the Wolves scrapped like a wild beast and are gelling as the stakes get higher.
“At times, played some of the best volleyball all season tonight,” said CHS coach Breeanne Smedley. “We battled and fought hard for every point.”
That was most evident in the third set, when the Wolves somehow battled back from being down 24-17, holding off match point after match point, before eventually winning the set.
“Klahowya is a strong team all around, and I’m pleased with the way we were able to not only hang with them, but take a game off them for the first time since we entered into this league,” Smedley said. “Players stepped up in key times and were playing smart by adjusting to their offense.
“It’s a great place for us to be in as we take on Port Townsend and head to post-season play,” she added. “The team is peaking at the right time.”
Coupeville (2-3 in league play, 4-9 overall) hosts the Redhawks (0-5, 1-10) Thursday in their regular season finale (6:45 start, no JV), while Chimacum (3-2, 8-7) faces Klahowya (5-0, 8-6).
A Wolf win and a Chimacum loss and Coupeville would finish in a tie for second place.
Since they split their two matches with the Cowboys, we’d then have to wade in to tiebreaker territory to decide postseason seeding.
Both the #2 and #3 teams from the Olympic League host their playoff opener, but #3 would have to play an additional loser-out game.
To see the brackets, pop over to: http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=1690&sport=10
Regardless of who or when they play, the Wolves are hoping for the kind of effort they got Monday, when nearly everyone on the roster filled up the stat sheet.
Tiffany Briscoe (four aces, six kills, 14 digs), Sydney Autio (three aces, 12 assists, nine digs), Hope Lodell (four aces, four kills, five digs) and Katrina McGranahan (two aces, four kills, three blocks) paced Coupeville.
Valen Trujillo went low for nine digs, Ally Roberts soared for five kills and Lauren Rose doled out 11 assists.
Meanwhile, super sophomore Payton Aparicio (12/12 serving, two aces, seven digs) and fab frosh Emma Smith (three kills, one block) helped control the flow of the match.
Coupeville Sports 