CHS volleyball will be led by returning letter winners Ashley Menges (14), Emma Smith (13), Scout Smith (2) and Maya Toomey-Stout. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Now it gets interesting.
After crushing Olympic League competition two years running, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad is stepping up several rungs on the ladder.
With the creation of the North Sound Conference, the Wolves, who have gone 24-11 overall, 17-1 in conference action, since Cory Whitmore became head coach, find themselves facing a challenge.
The new six-team league features three schools which played at the state volleyball tourney last season.
One was CHS, which made the trip for the first time in 13 years, while South Whidbey and King’s also qualified while playing out of the old Cascade Conference.
While the private school Knights, who knocked off Cascade (Leavenworth) to win the state title, have the early edge, Whitmore isn’t looking past the Falcons, or Granite Falls, Sultan or Cedar Park Christian, for that matter.
“Being a new league, not having much prior knowledge of each team is both a challenge and a blessing,” he said. “In a very competitive league that we are new to, we will need to step on the court, ready to bring our best game forward.”
From the moment the new league was announced, Coupeville’s spikers were among the quickest of any Wolf athletes to embrace the challenge, often stating on social media that they were in attack, and not retreat, mode.
“I’ve been very proud of this group’s attitude toward the new league,” Whitmore said. “They have high expectation of themselves and a competitive spirit.
“We will bring it each practice preparing to bring it each game, no matter the team across the net.”
Last year’s team, which didn’t drop a set in league play, was led by seven strong seniors including Olympic League MVP Hope Lodell.
While losing that pack to graduation hurts, the cupboard isn’t bare, however.
There are four key returning varsity players, a newcomer who isn’t really a newcomer and talented spikers hankerin’ to move up from a JV team which finished 12-1 under Chris Smith.
Coupeville also continues to build for the future, welcoming another strong group as the Class of 2022 arrives on the high school court.
“Our incoming freshman group is working very hard to learn the systems (offense and defense) as well as the expectations of high school ball,” Whitmore said. “They have already made great strides and with more reps, they will soon learn how to let some natural athleticism take them as far as they are willing to push.”
As they begin their high school journey, the young spikers can look to the team’s veterans for guidance.
The returning letter winners include seniors Emma Smith and Ashley Menges, and juniors Scout Smith and Maya Toomey-Stout.
After playing her sophomore season in California, junior Hannah Davidson also returns to the Wolf program to pick up what she started as a freshman.
Menges and Scout Smith are expected to split time between setter and right-side hitter, while Emma Smith will anchor the team at middle blocker and Toomey-Stout will showcase her electric leaping ability coming in hot from an outside hitting slot.
“Ashley and Scout both offer a strong all-around game able to take sets from the back row and block and attack in the front,” Whitmore said. “Emma had a very strong off-season preparing to take on role of middle blocker and has really emerged as a top attacker, calling for the ball and ready to shoulder a large amount of swings.
“Maya has really developed her game to be a consistent attacker from any location on the court and we will rely on her knack for the ball defensively.”
Davidson will join Emma Smith in giving Coupeville some height, a nice touch on a team that, overall, doesn’t feature very many tall players this time around.
“We are so happy to have Hannah back with the team,” Whitmore said. “A strong freshman year with the program has allowed her to jump back into the swing of things, not missing a beat and holding down a very important second middle blocking role.”
While a majority of the current Wolves operate, shall we say, low to the ground, there are ways to deal with that.
“A weakness this team may face is our relative lack of height. We knew this headed into the off-season and so it was important for us to focus on our verticals in order to compensate,” Whitmore said. “We will have to be tough defensively in the back row and find ways of slowing the ball down with our front row block.
“Tough serving is another emphasis to pull taller teams off their routes on the net and making up for a lack in height,” he added. “As the season progresses, we will need to strengthen our attack, both in smart hitting locations, as well as overall power.”
Another big help is having a tight-knit group of players who know how each other will react, and Coupeville is blessed in that department.
“One of our strengths that we will rely upon this season will be our ability to communicate,” Whitmore said. “This group is a close group of friends that work very well together and communication is a large part of the game they have worked on, on and off the court.
“Another strength we hope to build upon would be our serving. Every day, this group pushes each other to be stronger servers that have potential to rattle opponents,” he added. “And in facing strong servers in practice, we look to be strong passers with experience against a tough serve.”
The Wolves, who open the regular season Thursday, Sept. 6 with a non-conference home match against Friday Harbor, enter year three of the Whitmore Era intent on attacking each new day.
Never back down, never give in.
“Our goals for this season would be to finish toward the top of this new, competitive league,” Whitmore said. “Like each season, we want to be playing our best volleyball at the end and push deep into the playoffs, making it to state.
“It will take more than a starting group of six players – we will rely upon everyone bringing their best every day in practice, helping to prepare for big games.”
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