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All the fight, all the heart

Posted in Middle School, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Adie Maynes, a three-sport star with a strong work ethic. (Lara Maynes photo)

Longer than a Taylor Swift movie, and with more hits.

Tuesday’s Coupeville Middle School volleyball home finale clocked in at three hours and 24 minutes, with 334 points spread across nine sets.

And while next-door neighbor South Whidbey made off with three victories, the Cougars had to work for the W’s, with the scrappy Wolves putting up a strong fight.

How the day played out:

 

Varsity:

The first match of the day featured the most points — 117 for those keeping track — with South Whidbey eking out a 25-20, 23-25, 15-9 victory.

The deciding third set was tied three times, the last at 4-4 after CMS 8th grader Willow Leedy-Bonifas sliced a winner through the defense, but then the Cougars pulled away.

South Whidbey had skill, it had grit, and it had luck.

Case in point, a late play in which the Cougars bounced a serve return off a light lashed to the gym roof, eventually winning the rally even as the light bucked and bobbed like it was trapped in an earthquake.

While no glass hit the gym floor below, a fair share of spikes did make contact with the hardwood as the two teams pummeled each other.

Coupeville trailed the entirety of the first set but did manage to fight off three set points as Adie Maynes sprayed bombs from the service stripe.

Tenley Stuurmans unleashed a knee-buckler of a kill to put the ball into Maynes hands, and the Wolves played their best under stress.

Inconsistent serving beforehand, however, put them in the position of chasing the Cougars.

Sydney Van Dyke and Leedy-Bonifas were the only Wolves to score on their serve in the opening frame until Maynes put together her torrid run at the end.

The second set was a different story, however, as this time it was CMS leading start to finish.

Van Dyke and precocious 6th grader Rhylee Inman scorched South Whidbey with nasty aces, while Maynes was a wild woman, sprinting from side to side, tracking down balls, and delivering several flips which froze multiple defenders.

“Adie has been the backbone for our team,” said Wolf coach Cris Matochi.

“I’ll bet she ran five miles today; she ran everywhere and was always trying to get our passing going.”

Inman, the lone 6th grader to see varsity time, also impressed her mentor.

“For a younger player, Rhylee is not intimidated at all,” Matochi said. “So good to see.”

South Whidbey refused to buckle, forcing several ties in the latter stages of set two, but Coupeville had the magic touch when it mattered most.

A Cougar serve went wide at 23-23, with Matochi bellowing “OUT!!” then eyeballing the ref, who hesitated for the briefest of seconds before confirming he agreed.

That set up Stuurmans, who flipped the set winner into the narrowest of available cracks during the next rally, knotting things up at a set apiece and setting the stage for the frantic finale.

 

JV – Level A:

The only match South Whidbey swept, as it came out on top 25-19, 25-19, 15-8 in a match closer than the score might seem at first glance.

While the Wolves dropped the opening set, they were poppin’ from the service line.

Cami Van Dyke, Emma Leavitt, Zoe Winstead, Cheyanne Attebury, and the Energizer Rabbit of Wolf Nation — the fist-swinging, lung-busting whirlwind of destruction known as Olivia Martin — all scored while firing BB’s.

Martin, rocking back and forth, then flinging her entire body into every serve, cracked off a particularly impressive string of serves, punctuating her run with an ace which caused her to holler like a Viking laying waste to a hapless village.

Win, lose, or draw, the CMS 7th grader, younger sister of former Wolf volleyball ace Emma Mathusek, is very likely the most entertaining middle school athlete in Cow Town.

In this pic from last season, Olivia Martin contemplates 1,001 different ways she will destroy your hopes of winning the volleyball match. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The second set was a lot like the first one, but this time around Brooklyn Pope was the one laying waste to any fools who dared to step into her path.

She scored twice on balls she flipped over her head, with her back to the net, and seemed to be in the thick of things on every other play.

And then there was Miss Martin again, this time crunching a service ace which soared over a Cougar head, then suddenly, violently crashed to the court, bit a chunk out of the floor, and skipped away for a winner.

While the Wolves top JV squad didn’t end the day with a win, they did end it with a great deal of hard-won respect.

The future is bright for these young women, who have grown each time I have seen them on the floor this season.

Their spirit is big, their fight is bigger.

 

JV – Level B:

So close.

Seeking their first win, Coupeville’s second JV squad staggered South Whidbey, winning the opening frame 25-19.

Sparked by a huge day from 6th grader Scarlett Spencer, and strong work from running mates like Emma Cushman and Mila Gesing, the Wolves brought the house down, and kept their fan club rocking even after rock-hard bleachers wore out even the most resilient of tired tushes.

While the Cougars rebounded to win the final two sets 25-12 and 15-10 to claim the match, CMS left coach Kristina Hooks smiling.

“They have improved so much!!” she said.

Samantha Howard and Finley Helm added service aces in the first set, while an exuberant Alexandra Lo cranked out a run of winners from the line in set #2.

The deciding set — a quicksilver race to score 15 points — was up for grabs, as Coupeville overcame a 9-5 deficit to seize the lead at 10-9.

Helm, a pedal-through-the-medal race car driver picking up a new sport, reeled off four straight service winners, with the Cougars bouncing one return off a low-hanging basketball backboard.

South Whidbey had a pack of dangerous underhanded servers at its disposal, however, and rode a variety of moonballs at the end, surging back to claim the victory.

 

Next up:

Coupeville wraps its season with a trip to Lakewood Monday, Oct. 23.

After that, middle school athletes transition to basketball, with the Wolf boys playing first, before the girls return to the court in early 2024.

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“I couldn’t be happier with their growth”

Posted in Middle School, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Chelsi Stevens and her fellow CMS spikers continue to show great growth. (Photo courtesy Kristi Stevens)

It was only the first chapter.

While the Coupeville Middle School volleyball squads fell at South Whidbey Wednesday, the Wolves will get an immediate chance at redemption.

That’s because the next-door neighbors are playing back-to-back matches with each other, with the South Enders scheduled to travel up to Cow Town Tuesday, Oct. 17 for a rematch.

That’s the home finale for Coupeville, and a perfect opportunity for Wolf Nation to pack the CMS gym and create a wall of sound.

With that in mind, how Wednesday played out:

 

Varsity:

Unforced errors stung the Wolves in a 25-17, 25-17, 15-8 loss.

“We started every set strong, but we had so many errors that led South Whidbey to take the lead mid set, while we kept trying to keep the ball in play,” said CMS coach Cris Matochi.

“South Whidbey is way better than they were last year,” he added. “They were keeping the ball in play very consistently.

“They have an incredible and well-trained libero that was running for everything. She is the backbone of their team.”

Matochi also praised the Cougar staff — “They have two great coaches that are doing an incredible job training those kids” — while finding positives for his team, as well.

“Now we know what they look like, and I hope that the players step up their game so we can fight for every point next week,” he said.

“Our setter Addy (Maynes) played her heart out,” Matochi added. “She was getting to every single ball, and she always plays with her full heart.”

Giving her some help is job #1 before the rematch.

“There is only so much a setter can do when the passes are not coming to her,” Matochi said.

“We will be focusing on our serve receive and serve, and keeping the ball in play as those two skills will be imperative for us to be able to perform well.”

The Wolf coach is already counting down the days until Coupeville gets a second crack at its archrivals.

“Next week we will need to fight, and it won’t be easy,” Matochi said. “I’m hoping that being at home and having our incredible fans will boost the players confidence and give them a boost.

“I’m hoping that the girls will use this opportunity to bring their A-game next week.”

 

JV – Team A:

“I feel like I always say this but, although my teams didn’t win the game, they played so well I couldn’t be happier with their growth and progress.”

That was the feeling Wolf coach Kristina Hooks carried away from Langley after her team bounced back to claim set #3 by a 16-14 score, after South Whidbey won the first two frames 25-14, 25-18.

Battling both talented rivals and their own frustration over some questionable calls from the ref — whose seeing-eye dog had been possibly locked out of the gym — the young Wolves got stronger as the match played out.

Hooks has been working with her players on passing — “That’s really the fundamental skill of volleyball” — and was pleased with her team’s growth.

“If you can’t pass, you can’t really do anything else and all of a sudden during this game their passes started being amazing,” she said.

“This was the first game where I had my players practice being setters and getting the second ball and Brooklyn (Pope) and Cami (Van Dyke) did amazing.

“They were running all over the court to get to that second ball.”

 

JV – Team B:

Growth was again the word of the day.

While the Wolves lost 25-19, 25-8, 15-7, Hooks sees progress every time out.

“This team’s performance had a significant increase from our last game,” she said. “They played so well.

“Their passes were doing really well, and almost all of my girls were making their serves over the net, which was amazing and a little surprising.”

On a team with very inexperienced players, Hooks especially enjoys seeing how her young spikers remain positive, helping each other.

“I love the girls on this team,” she said. “They’re all so sweet to each other.

“After every point, especially a mistake, they run towards their teammate that missed a serve or shanked a pass and are encouraging them; it’s the sweetest thing to see.”

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South Whidbey surge wounds Wolves

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , , on September 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville lineman William Davidson (70) and Zane Oldenstadt fought hard in a losing cause Friday night. (Michelle Glass photo)

Good start, good finish, painful middle.

The Coupeville High School football team scored two of the first three touchdowns Friday, then came back around to notch the night’s final two trips to the end zone.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, in between that, they gave up 41 unanswered points, as a close game at South Whidbey unraveled and turned into a 48-28 loss.

With the victory, the host Falcons (1-1) won their fifth-straight rivalry game with their next-door neighbors and hold on to The Bucket for another year.

Coupeville, a 2B school opening with three straight non-conference games against 1A rivals, drops to 0-2 heading into a trip to Sultan.

Friday’s royal rumble was a nail-biter through halftime, with the Wolves leading until late in the second quarter.

South Whidbey got on the scoreboard first, forcing a punt, then driving down the field, carving up chunks of yardage with a run-powered offense.

But Coupeville, raining down pain from the heavens with senior quarterback Logan Downes slicing and dicing the Falcon secondary, rallied to regain the lead with back-to-back scores.

The first was setup by a long kickoff return from Aiden O’Neill and a series of power rumbles through the line by Wolf running back Johnny Porter.

With South Whidbey’s defensive players on their heels, Downes tossed a 20-yard scoring strike to Hunter Bronec with three minutes to play in the first quarter, before repeating the feat right at the end of the period.

Hunter Bronec (34) hauled in his first touchdown catch of the season against South Whidbey. (Bailey Thule photo)

The second TD lob settled into the hands of Jack Porter and came on the heels of the CHS defense stuffing the Falcons on a fourth-and-two.

Tack on a pair of PATs from kicker Chase Anderson, and the Wolves exited the first quarter up 14-7 and looking like they were in control.

Then the Coupeville offense hit a wall, not scoring again until the final two minutes of the game.

South Whidbey took advantage, slowly at first, then in much quicker fashion.

The Falcons trimmed the deficit to 14-13 on a short scoring run, but missed the PAT after penalties pushed their kicker back from his desired launching point.

It turned out not to matter, though, as South Whidbey freshman Bryson Taylor picked off a pass while falling backwards on Coupeville’s next offensive play, giving his team a chance to seize control.

And the Falcons did, driving 72 yards, mixing short swing passes with power runs up the middle of the field.

An eight-yard plunge produced a touchdown, and a two-point conversion run staked South Whidbey to a 21-14 lead, an advantage it would never relinquish.

The two teams traded defensive stands as the halftime break approached, with O’Neill picking off a pass to give the Wolves a final shot at knotting the score.

Downes hit Bronec on a pair of sweet passes but was tripped up on the final play of the quarter, sprawling face-first to the turf as the ball fell short of his intended target.

Still, the game was a one-score affair at the midway point, seemingly setting up Coupeville’s second nailbiter in as many weeks.

But, instead of a repeat of its opener with Klahowya, when the game was decided on the very final play, the trek to Langley fell apart in horrifying fashion.

South Whidbey tacked on three touchdowns in the third quarter, with a missed PAT (after another Falcon penalty) just a slight ding as a 21-14 lead stretched out to 41-14.

Little, irritating things stood out as the game slipped away.

The clock operator letting 15+ seconds vanish from the scoreboard on a play where the clock should have been stopped.

The wrong ref signaling a South Whidbey touchdown, after a long delay, and after the two zebras in place to make the call both walked away without raising their arms.

But reality says those are mere irritants — like the bees divebombing visiting fans during pregame warmups — and not game-changing moments when you give up six straight touchdowns.

Instead, the primary focus should be on giving South Whidbey credit (through gritted teeth) for asserting itself on both sides of the ball to claim bragging rights.

Wolf QB Logan Downes is chasing history. (Jackie Saia photo)

To their credit, the Wolves fought until the end, with William Davidson erupting through the line to force a fumble and Coupeville scoring twice in a 90-second span at the very end of the night.

Downes flung a 21-yard TD to fellow senior Peyton Caveness, before connecting with sure-handed sophomore Malachi Somes, who scampered in from 12 yards out for his first varsity touchdown.

Coupeville’s QB has thrown for six touchdowns across the first two games, with six different Wolf receivers catching one of his scoring missiles.

Logan Downes has racked up 25 TD passes (including two as a sophomore and 17 as a junior) as he chases older brother Hunter, who holds the school career record with 35.

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A win, until it wasn’t

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Teagan Calkins played strongly in her varsity volleyball debut. (Jackie Saia photo)

Point by point, it slipped away.

Up two sets to none Wednesday, one point away from a straight-sets sweep, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad couldn’t drive the last nail into South Whidbey’s coffin.

Instead, the visiting Falcons held off two match points and rallied to capture an improbable 24-26, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-10 non-conference win in the season opener for both teams.

A battle royale which lasted two-and-a-half hours in a stuffy gym, played out in front of a Wolf student section which struggled to get loud ‘n proud until late in the evening, it left players, coaches, and fans slightly stunned.

The Falcons fly home with the win, to the delight of a few fans who chose to camp out in the Coupeville side of the gym, while the Wolves head back to practice needing to work on developing a killer mentality.

CHS was the better team much of the night and got strong work from sophomore Teagan Calkins and junior Madison McMillan, but made too many unforced errors to earn the win.

In particular, the Wolves, who have a roster full of exciting servers, struggled at the stripe, launching way too many balls into the bottom of the net.

Coupeville is off for a week, returning to action September 13, when it hosts Neah Bay, which will give coach Cory Whitmore and his staff time to refine things.

The new-look Wolves, who lost five players to graduation, are a work in progress, and that was never more evident than in the opening set.

Powered by strong serving from seniors Issabel Johnson and Grey Peabody, and one particularly nasty spike off the fingertips of high-bounding Lyla Stuurmans, Coupeville built an 11-6 lead.

Then everything which could go wrong did, quickly, allowing South Whidbey to tear off a 15-2 run and reclaim the lead at 21-13.

The Wolves looked disorientated, and lost, until they didn’t.

Flipping the switch back to positive, Coupeville got a burst of energy from Mia Farris, who tore off a Falcon arm with a wicked ace.

With McMillan catching fire as she was everywhere and nowhere all at once, dancing from side to side while spraying winners, the Wolves closed the set on a 13-3 surge to come all the way back.

Farris rose up to the ceiling and cracked straight fire right down the middle of the floor to seal the 26-24 set win, and the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde evening was well underway.

The second set featured four ties, with neither team able to pull away.

In a preview of things to come, South Whidbey held off two set points before Farris ended things with a ferocious spike which caught the top of the net, skidded along it as the Falcons watched it go by, then flopped on the other side for a winner.

The Wolves built a 5-0 lead in the third set behind the serving of Katie Marti, only to see the plucky Falcons hang around, eventually forcing eight different ties, the last at 22-22.

Peabody slammed a winner to stake CHS to a 24-22 lead, putting the home team on the brink of ending things in time for everyone to enjoy dinner at a reasonable time.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Falcons scored the final four points of the set, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat and prolonging things.

That delay turned into another hour, however, with the action resembling a slow-motion wreck at times for the Wolves.

Calkins, making her varsity volleyball debut after a stellar summer of smacking big base knocks for her select softball squad, rustled up a series of big-time hits, raining down pain on the Falcons.

But even with their sophomore sniper hard at work, the Wolves never led in the fourth set, and only once, at 5-4, in the fifth.

That lead vanished as quickly as it arrived, with Coupeville falling behind 10-5, and never getting closer than two points the rest of the way.

 

Wednesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 7 digs
Teagan Calkins — 8 kills, 2 digs
Mia Farris — 8 kills, 4 digs, 5 aces
Issabel Johnson — 2 digs, 1 ace
Katie Marti — 1 kill, 7 digs, 25 assists, 1 ace, 1 block assist
Madison McMillan — 2 kills, 15 digs, 5 aces
Grey Peabody — 8 kills, 3 digs, 1 block assist, 1 solo block
Lyla Stuurmans — 5 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace

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Falcons rally late, edge Wolves

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Camden Glover whacked a double Wednesday in Langley. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Missed it … by that much.

The Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad stranded too many runners Wednesday in Langley, leaving host South Whidbey a chance to rally late for a 4-2 win.

The non-conference loss snaps a five-game winning streak for the Wolves, who tumble to 9-4 on the season.

With the victory, the Falcons even their mark at 7-7 and earn a split in the season series, after Coupeville clobbered them 13-2 in the season opener.

This time around the Wolves had plenty of chances to blow the game open, but left runners aboard in each of the first five innings.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, South Whidbey finally broke through thanks to Coupeville’s lone error and a two-out RBI double from Tyson Henry.

With Falcon hurlers retiring the final nine Wolf hitters, the hosts capitalized on their chances in the sixth, pushing three runners across to claim the lead for the first time.

Three walks jammed the basepaths, with a Josh Sterba sac fly knotting things up at 2-2.

Coupeville was an out away from escaping, but Grady Davis delivered the game-buster, launching a two-out, two-run double to center to knife the Wolves.

The game opened as a pitcher’s duel, with CHS hurler Coop Cooper carrying a shutout through the first four innings.

The freshman flinger whiffed six Falcons and didn’t surrender a hit until the third, but his own team struggled to provide run support.

The Wolves stranded four runners through the first three frames, before finally breaking through to score in the top of the fourth.

Starting with the bases loaded and no outs after a Camden Glover double, a Peyton Caveness single, and Cooper being plunked by a pitch, things were looking explosive.

But while CHS did score twice, forcing in a run when Aiden O’Neill was hit by another pitch, and netting another tally off of a Scott Hilborn smash to third base, the Wolves offense sputtered out after that.

Other than a Jack Porter walk to open the fifth, Coupeville came up empty across the final three innings.

While the Wolves outhit the Falcons 4-3, South Whidbey walked 10 times to Coupeville’s five free passes.

The CHS hardball squad gets an immediate chance to fix that, as it plays its third game in as many days Thursday, when it hosts Mount Vernon Christian.

That game pits the top two teams in the Northwest 2B/1B League, with MVC sitting at 9-0 in conference action, and Coupeville right behind them at 7-1.

First pitch is 4:00 PM at Robert Sherman Field.

 

Wednesday stats:

Peyton Caveness — Two singles
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — One double
Scott Hilborn — One single
Aiden O’Neill — One walk
Jack Porter — Two walks
Cole White — One walk

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