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Posts Tagged ‘Hope Lodell’

“The Surgeon” slices, dices, wins MVP!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf senior spiker Hope Lodell was named Olympic League MVP. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a season of domination, right down to the end.

The Coupeville High School volleyball squad drilled its Olympic League foes this season, winning all nine matches, and, for that matter, all 27 sets.

So it came as no surprise when the Wolves received 50% of the All-Conference selections, including, for the second-straight year, MVP.

This time around the highest honor went to senior Hope Lodell, who moved to libero for her final year, but never lost her reputation for carving up foes as “The Surgeon.”

Sliding over to replace a legend in Valen Trujillo, Lodell adapted her game to fit her new job and excelled on a nightly basis.

Whether scraping digs off the floor or firing wicked aces which burnt the top of the net and caused dad Mike to lose his mind, she went out all guns blazing.

After helping lead CHS to a league title, a tie for the most wins in program history (13) and its first trip to state since 2004, Lodell exits holding numerous marks on the school volleyball record board.

Also getting honors for Coupeville were fellow seniors Katrina McGranahan (last year’s MVP), Mikayla Elfrank and Lauren Rose, who were all named First-Team All-League.

Chimacum junior Renee Woods, Port Townsend senior Alana McCleese and Klahowya sophomore Rachel Bailey rounded out the First-Team roster.

Klahowya sophomore Maile Lueck was tabbed as the defensive player of the year.

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Volleyball success a family tradition!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 2, 2017| 1 Comment »

Wolf freshman spiker Jaimee Masters. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

When Coupeville High School freshman Jaimee Masters takes the volleyball court, her role model isn’t too far away.

That would be her cousin, Wolf senior Hope “The Surgeon” Lodell, a lethal weapon waiting to be unleashed, who owns the school record for service aces in a season and a career.

As Masters fine-tunes her own game playing for the Coupeville JV and C-Team squads, she watches Lodell crush fools for the varsity and knows she wants to be in the same place one day.

“Hope has had a big impact on me,” Masters said. “When I was younger I always looked up to her; she was like the big sister for me.

“And during volleyball she’s the reason why I push myself constantly,” she added. “I strive to get on her level of skill or even better.”

Masters has two seasons of middle school volleyball, and another of club volleyball, under her belt, and her passion for the sport continues to grow.

“I started playing because I’ve always loved the sport,” Masters said. “I enjoy being a part of the team, and overall just playing.

“Volleyball has always sparked my interest,” she added. “I love the feeling of getting a perfect pass or a perfect set, or getting an ace when I’m serving.”

Masters, who plans to join her cousin on the softball field as well, spends a fair amount of her free time listening to music and drawing. At school, she most looks forward to classes revolving around art and poetry.

When she hits the gym, though, it’s all about improvement — taking the skills she currently has and constantly expanding them.

“I feel like my biggest strength would be passing,” Masters said. “An area I would love to work on would be my setting, because my team relies on me as a setter.

“My goals for this season are perfecting my setting ability, like being able to back set and having my thumbs back,” she added. “During my season of club volleyball, I got tendinitis in my thumb. And that really hurt me and my team because I was the setter. So hopefully I can perfect it again.”

Masters would also like to be “able to spot serve,” a skill her cousin excels in.

As she grows, on and off the court, Masters benefits from the support she gets from her family. It’s something she deeply appreciates.

“My parents have had a big impact on me. Without them I don’t know if I would be the person I am today,” Masters said. “They make me happy every day.

“Yes, we do have our hills and valleys, but they have helped me through so much.”

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Many tacos, some wins!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Raven Vick was enjoying her post-game meal until the paparazzi got all up in her business. (Maria Reyes photo)

The road to perfection hit a brief snag.

After sweeping its first two matches this season, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad hit a pothole on Taco Tuesday.

Playing at Bellevue Christian, home of the most revered food truck in all of high school sports, the Wolves enjoyed tasty treats, but endured a sour finish on the floor.

Falling 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 in a non-conference tussle with the always-sharp Vikings, the Wolves saw their record slip to 2-1.

The loss capped what was otherwise a strong evening for CHS, as it swept to C-Team and JV victories earlier.

Coupeville, which has yet to play at home this season, heads to North Mason Thursday for a match-up with a strong 2A squad.

Only then, after four matches, plus prior trips to Langley and Yakima for tourney play, will the Wolves finally visit their own gym Sept. 26.

That night Klahowya comes to Whidbey for a major Olympic League showdown.

While the Wolves couldn’t get the win Tuesday, it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“I’m pleased with some things that I saw us do, that we may not have a year ago or even a couple weeks ago,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “I’m proud of our fight tonight.

“The scores may not show just how close each set was, but we left the gym feeling like we left it all out there and really stayed competitive with them.”

Bellevue Christian boasts a very strong offense, and Coupeville attacked it relentlessly, before falling to some big hitters.

“We went at their block instead of avoiding it and playing timid,” Whitmore said. “Bellevue Christian was required to earn the points they put on the board; we battled and at this early point in the season, that’s what I want to see.

“We’ll go back to watch some film and look for areas of improvement and hopefully get another chance to play them later in the post-season.”

Wolf junior Ashley Menges was a key, with six service aces and nine assists.

“Ashley did a great job of staying aggressive from the service line and brought us within striking distance in the second game,” Whitmore said.

With Menges and Lauren Rose (10 assists) setting things up, Coupeville’s power players were able to spray kills.

Junior Emma Smith peppered the Vikings with five, while Mikayla Elfrank and Kyla Briscoe chipped in with four apiece.

“Emma did a great job in the middle of playing faster than the ball, both as an attacker and a blocker,” Whitmore said. “I’m proud of how fast she played tonight.”

Hope Lodell (six digs, two aces), Briscoe (six digs) and Payton Aparicio (five digs, two aces) filled out the stat sheet, while Coupeville collected eight team blocks.

“Our blocking is starting to become a strong part of our game,” Whitmore said.

Young guns roll:

Coupeville’s JV and C-Team swept to victories in the early matches, with both Wolf squads running their records to 2-0 on the young season.

After dropping the opening set, the C-Team roared back to take the next two 25-22, 25-16.

“They played solid, really commanding the last two sets,” said Wolf JV coach Chris Smith.

In the night’s second tilt, Coupeville’s JV swept all three sets.

“We are continuing to work on playing hard and smart,” Smith said. “Communication and tenacious team defense.

“Coach Whitmore and I were very proud of what we saw.”

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Progress and triumph!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf sophomore Lucy Sandahl was on fire Saturday at the South Whidbey Invite. (John Fisken photos)

   Mikayla Elfrank (5) showed off the benefits of off-season work with her play at the tourney.

   Fab frosh (l to r) Maddie Vondrak, Chelsea Prescott and Savannah Smith. (Konni Smith photo)

One step at a time.

A deep, veteran Coupeville High School volleyball squad has lofty goals this season, but, to get there, the Wolves need to keep making progress each time they take the court.

Coach Cory Whitmore knows that, and he preaches it to his spikers, who are responding.

His varsity, and a sizable chunk of the JV squad, gave up half of their weekend, spending much of Saturday down at the southern end of Whidbey.

And it sounds as if it was worth it, as the Wolf varsity rolled undefeated through pool play, eventually finishing third at the 12-team South Whidbey Invite.

Coupeville’s JV, a last-minute addition to the tourney after another school finked out, held its own playing against mostly varsity competition, claiming 8th.

“I was happy with what we accomplished today, taking steps toward our long term goals, both at the varsity and JV level,” Whitmore said. “Great lessons learned going into practice this coming week and should help to serve as motivation for what needs to be done to reach our post-season goals.”

Varsity:

Coupeville rolled to straight-sets wins in all three of its pool clashes.

After knocking off the South Whidbey JV 25-22, 25-13, the Wolves thrashed varsity squads from Lopez Island (25-13, 25-9) and Friday Harbor (25-12, 25-18).

“Friday Harbor was our strongest performance during the day,” Whitmore said. “At any one point in the game, we had all six players staying disciplined and playing within themselves and the team concept from the start to the finish.

“Our focus and energy was at its strongest to finish pool play.”

Seniors Lauren Rose (back from a leg injury) and Mikayla Elfrank powered the Wolves against Friday Harbor.

Whitmore doled out particular praise to the big-hitting Elfrank, who is an electric player when everything is clicking.

“I’m proud of the work that Mikayla has put in in the off-season and regularly after practice,” he said. “She never settles with where she’s at and Lauren communicates well with her to put her hitter in a strong position to succeed.”

Coupeville was strong across the board, with Payton Aparicio and Ashley Menges on fire at the service line.

“Payton too has worked incredibly hard to improve her role, but as an outside, she has to serve, pass, block, dig and hit,” Whitmore said. “She shouldered the load really well and remained incredibly reliable in each set.”

Senior libero Hope Lodell, who has shifted positions this season to replace the graduated Valen Trujillo, was the glue for the Wolves.

“She anchored our serve receive and far back defense – I was happy with the progression she made as a defender and reading the hitters,” Whitmore said. “She looked very comfortable back there.

“Katrina McGranahan, Kyla Briscoe, Emma Smith, Scout Smith and Allison Wenzel filled their roles really well and had strong moments as well,” he added.

The Wolves stumbled a bit in the gold bracket finals against Nooksack Valley and South Whidbey’s varsity, but getting the kinks out in tourney play should help Coupeville as it sails back into regular season play.

“We got fairly tentative from both the service line and very reactive to our opponents’ serves and attacks,” Whitmore said. “Against tough teams, such as we faced in the top bracket, we needed to take more risks and work to control the tempo.”

JV:

Coupeville rolled out five sophomores — Raven Vick, Maya Toomey-Stout, Emma Mathusek, Zoe Trujillo and Willow Vick — and freshmen Chelsea Prescott, Savannah Smith and Maddie Vondrak.

“I’m also very happy with what I saw from our JV group playing against mostly varsity teams,” Whitmore said. “I was happy to see our sophomore group play together, with a lot of ball control and composure, and then our freshman middles learn at a rapid pace, holding their own just fine.”

Sandahl was in the thick of things, guiding her squad like a wizard.

“Lucy did a great job working as the setter the entire day,” Whitmore said. “She worked incredibly hard for her teammates and did a nice job of managing the passes given to her, setting up her hitters for success.”

New Wolf JV coach Chris Smith came away from his first tourney pleased with both results and effort.

The young guns took four sets off of varsity teams, winning two against Lopez and one apiece against Port Angeles and Orcas.

“This was an awesome opportunity and challenge for our talented and tenacious sophomore squad that plays with a lot of energy and resolve,” Smith said. “Although this group is relatively small in stature they came up with a lot of big plays.”

Coupeville’s freshmen trio also stood tall.

“I was very happy with the help we got from Maddie, Chelsea and Savannah,” Smith said. “These three freshmen added a lot of height to our team and created a solid presence in the middle.

“I was very happy with the comments I received throughout the day from opposing coaches and players about how scrappy we were on defense.”

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Senior spikers seek sublime success!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on August 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Emma Smith soars for a put-away. (John Fisken photos)

   Kyla Briscoe (right), here getting braids from Abby Parker, returns after missing her junior season with an injury.

Last year was just the beginning.

In his first season at the helm of the Coupeville High School volleyball program, Cory Whitmore guided the Wolf spikers to their best season since 2004, winning 11 matches and an Olympic League title.

Now, with a deep, veteran squad at his disposal, the goal is to go further, to hold serve in a competitive conference, but also launch a successful postseason run.

If there was any disappointment after finishing 11-6 overall, 8-1 in league play (the JV went 12-2, 9-0 and the C-Team 3-1), not being able to get out of district play after hard-fought losses to Charles Wright Academy and Klahowya has provided incentive.

“Having gained some confidence from last season, this group is very much looking forward to pushing to and beyond our finishing position from last year,” Whitmore said. “While the goal is to push to make it to state, we know that we have to take each game as a step up the ladder, never looking past a team and an opportunity to improve.

“Starting at WWU Team Camp, this group has bought into “the process,” that small improvements, day in and day out can add up to the success we hope for.”

Coupeville has to replace three players — Ally Roberts, Tiffany Briscoe and Valen Trujillo, the school record-holder for digs, all graduated — but Whitmore has great depth to call on, with almost every player in the mix having extensive prior varsity experience.

Headlining the cast are seniors Katrina McGranahan, the 2016 Olympic League MVP, and Hope Lodell, who smashed school single-season and career records at the service line.

“We are very excited to get back on the court this fall and this time, with some significant varsity experience,” Whitmore said. “Katrina brings a ton of experience to the front row and the serving line.

“Hope will be making a switch in positions to focus on anchoring the back row as libero,” he added. “Her ball control and defensive tenacity helps to fill the vacancy Valen leaves.”

Junior Emma Smith will anchor the team at middle blocker (“with each practice she gets faster, making herself more of an available option for the setters,” while a pack of seniors provide Whitmore with multiple weapons.

Payton Aparicio, Lauren Rose, Kyla Briscoe, Mikayla Elfrank and Allison Wenzel join Lodell and McGranahan in forming an unusually deep senior class.

The return of Briscoe, a two-year letter winner who missed her entire junior season with a leg injury, is a particular bonus.

“I’m very proud of Kyla and her return to the court after her season-ending injury last summer,” Whitmore said. “She has worked so hard this off-season to become a dynamic outside hitter and has earned the opportunity to have a fantastic senior year.”

Aparicio sparkled at the team’s summer camp (“she has worked tirelessly to continue growth at the outside hitting position”), while the big-hitting, high-energy Elfrank has been busy in the off-season.

“Mikayla is our “stay-after” player, meaning she asks for extra work after practice, honing her abilities as a right-side hitter,” Whitmore said.

Junior Ashley Menges rounds out the varsity returners, and she will share time at setter with Rose.

“Lauren and Ashley both work incredibly hard and take responsibility for their hitters’ success, which is a great quality in a setter,” Whitmore said. “Both also step back to the service line and cause problems for opponents.”

With a senior-dominated roster, opportunities are somewhat limited for younger players, but, sophomore Scout Smith could be a break-through player.

“Scout had a fantastic summer and has put herself in a position to see varsity playing time, potentially at the other right-side position,” Whitmore said.

He also hailed sophomores Maya Toomey-Stout, Lucy Sandahl and Zoe Trujillo for their work at summer camp (“all three are incredibly coachable and also put forth great off-season effort”) and twin sisters Raven and Willow Vick, who were fixtures at SST workouts.

Raven Vick was a flawless 25 of 25 attending the strength and conditioning sessions.

Whitmore is also pleased with his first official look at the next wave of stars, who made their practice debut this week.

“Our freshman group is exciting as well,” he said. “They are excited to learn and improve and are making the jump from middle to high school as well as can be expected.”

With the core of the Wolf varsity being a group which has played together all the way through high school, Whitmore is looking forward to putting a well-oiled unit on the floor in any situation.

“We believe that our strengths this season start with solid team cohesion,” he said. “Having played with each other for numerous seasons, this team communicates well on and off the court and have already exuded a strong ability for cohesion.”

The Wolves were deadly at the line last season, with several players among the best in 1A.

Lodell had the third-most aces in her class, barely edged out by two girls whose schools played many more contests than Coupeville.

“Our serving will continue to be a focus of ours and the returning players all have varsity experience from the service line,” Whitmore said. “We also hope to push our passing line to be consistent and I’m pleased with what I have seen thus far.”

While Coupeville doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses, the Wolves are always looking to fine-tune their game, which will be key to making a deep run into the postseason.

“Being early in the season, there is plenty to work on,” Whitmore said. “Specifically, as a team, we sat down at the start of the off-season and decided we would focus on our hitting consistency, looking to eliminate unforced errors.

“We need to walk the line between “aggressive” and “consistent” and it has been on our hitters’ minds as we kick off the 2017 season.”

Klahowya won back-to-back league titles before Coupeville seized the throne last season, with the Wolves winning two of three regular season matches.

While the Eagles would seem to be the biggest regular-season hurdle for CHS, Whitmore is a firm believer in overlooking no one.

“Chimacum, Klahowya and Port Townsend, all of them, (are the team to beat),” he said. “We are focusing on each team across the net, one at a time.

“We will need to approach each match and team with the respect they deserve,” Whitmore added. “League or non-league, 1A or 2A, we look to compete at our own highest ability, seeing each match as a chance to improve and take a step closer toward our long-term goals.”

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