Katie Marti enjoys her life on the court. (Delanie Lewis photo)
“The buy-in and belief with this team is exciting.
“I think there is laser-focus on being our best and that is always something to celebrate when starting a fun season.”
Coupeville High School volleyball coach Cory Whitmore is still fresh-faced and exuberant, yet, as he enters his eighth season at the helm of the program, he’s a grizzled vet as well.
With tennis guru Ken Stange retiring after a two-decade career, Whitmore and CHS softball head man Kevin McGranahan, who starts his ninth season next spring, have the longest runs of any active Wolf coaches.
After taking over for Breanne Smedley — who has gone on to her own super-successful stint at Columbia River — the king of spikes and sets has racked up seven-straight winning seasons.
Whitmore is 76-36 at Coupeville, with double-digit victories every season except 2020, when the pandemic limited the schedule to just nine matches.
Now, with the battle at the top of the Northwest 2B/1B League as open as it has been in years, after the retirement of La Conner Hall of Fame coach Suzanne Marble, CHS is aiming to make some noise.
Since returning to the NWL, the Wolves have only lost in conference action to one school — the four-time defending 2B state champs — and the path to state is (potentially) easier this season.
That’s because the District 1/2 tourney offers two tickets to state this fall, instead of just one as in recent years.
Whitmore, of course, wants his team to maintain that laser focus.
“As always we will need to respect every team we face,” he said. “But I also believe that if we are focused on our side of the net, playing to OUR best ability, we have a strong chance of doing well in the league and beyond.
“It is no secret that La Conner will miss some of their usual firepower from previous years, but Pam Keller is an excellent coach, and they still have players with experience – we will need to be ready.”
Coupeville, which opens with seven of its first nine matches at home, lost a strong group to graduation, but returns a pack of younger players who already have a fair amount of varsity experience.
The core of the team is its juniors, who have grown up playing three sports a year alongside each other.
“Very excited to be back with this group,” Whitmore said. “Grey Peabody had a very strong junior year and established herself as one of our top scorers.
“She will of course be back for her senior year, and she had a great summer, working on her range in the middle as well as further developing her leadership skills.”
Lyla Stuurmans and Madison McMillan are key players from a stellar junior class. (Jackie Saia photo)
That pack of juniors is both the present and the future for Whitmore, who is pleased with what he saw in the offseason.
“A number of other players had a great summer and will likely move from their limited role last year to potentially playing a full six rotations,” he said.
“Mia Farris, Madison McMillan, and Lyla Stuurmans all bring previous varsity-level experience and a strong handle of all six skills – it will be exciting to work out where best to use their talents.
“Although Katie Marti has seen sporadic varsity playing time these past two years, she had a great summer and I’m confident that she is ready to step into the role of setter and run our offense.”
Senior Issabel Johnson and juniors Jada Heaton and Taylor Brotemarkle also saw some varsity floor time last season, while Coupeville’s next generation is already starting to gel.
“Our incoming group of freshmen appears small in numbers at the moment,” Whitmore said.
“But a few of them really bought into the level of commitment we are looking for, and I’m excited about how quickly they learned and blended in with the group.”
When practices begin next week, the Wolves will sit down with their coaches and outline team goals.
“As always, we set goals about our academics, volunteerism, mental strength training, and even goals centered around teammate connection,” Whitmore said.
“We will keep our focus on the process and the areas that will make us most successful down the road,” he added.
“Hitting efficiency is always a determining factor, because it involves so much more than hitting, and everyone on the court will have ownership – strong passing leads to strong setting and the attack from there hopefully generates points on the board.
“If we emphasize our preparedness and practice effectiveness, I think this team will be able to meet any goal we set and challenge we face.”
Blessed with a tight-knit group of players, the Wolves have also shown a willingness to incorporate newcomers.
“Most of them have known each other and played multiple sports together for years, but I’m also impressed with their eagerness to include others,” Whitmore said.
“To make it through a long season, with multiple challenges along the way, the bond becomes incredibly important.”
Mia Farris patrols the line. (Jackie Saia photo)
Whitmore hails the team’s service game, both in firing off outgoing missiles and receiving incoming balls, as a major potential weapon.
“I am pretty excited about our starting place on the serve,” he said. “When focusing on technique, this team has a good shot at having a full six rotations of really difficult serves for our opponents to handle.
“In keeping with our team identity, I think this group also has a strong back row defense,” he added. “We will have to make quick and early progress at this skill in order to meet some of our other goals.”
With that in mind, the Wolves emphasized back row play during summer practices and camps.
“I’m encouraged by our growth, but it will always be an area to work on,” Whitmore said.
“From there we will really work on making our attack high, fast and consistent,” he added.
“There is athletic ability in this group and if we maximize that while keeping things fluid, we could really be a challenge for opponents’ defenses.”
With Coupeville’s spikers aiming to return to the state tourney for the first time since 2017, the Wolves need to be able to attack on the fly.
“Another area I’m hoping to stress with this group is our ability to make adjustments and to make them quickly,” Whitmore said.
“Being able to play multiple positions or adjust to attack opponents’ weakness or counteract their strengths will be a huge benefit to our success, especially facing strong teams in the post-season.”
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