When she’s not busy keeping her teammates hydrated, Sarah Wright likes to destroy the souls of her rival spikers. (John Fisken photos)
Lucy Sandahl was a precision passing machine Tuesday night.
Few reserves? No big deal.
Splitting their roster so they could play two matches Tuesday, the Coupeville High School JV spikers put up a strong fight against much-larger Bellevue Christian.
The seven girls who stayed in the high school gym — Maddy Hilkey, Hannah Davidson, Scout Smith, Nicole Lester, Allison Wenzel, Sarah Wright and Zoe Trujillo — fell in three tough sets, losing 25-21, 19-25, 15-10.
Meanwhile, the spikers who went next door — Lucy Sandahl, Willow Vick, Maya Toomey-Stout, Peytin Vondrak, Emma Mathusek, Raven Vick and Jillian Mayne — came away winners, sweeping their C-Team match in straight sets.
With one of his assistants out for the night, Wolf varsity coach Cory Whitmore took the reigns for the C-Team and was happy with what he saw unfold in the middle school gym.
“I was really impressed with our consistency on passing,” he said. “That’s been a particular focus for us and all the girls really stepped up tonight.
“Our service, especially after the first set, was very strong, as well.”
If there was a game ball to give out, it would have gone to Sandahl.
“Lucy got to just about every ball and put them all into play,” Whitmore said. “She did a really nice job of distributing the ball.”
Back in the high school gym, JV coach Kristin Bridges started with one sub on the bench and almost ended up one player down.
Davidson hurt her ankle and spent part of the match with an ice pack on it, while Trujillo took a shot to the nose.
Both Wolves proved to be tough warriors, though, and ultimately finished the match on the floor together, still playing.
When she was able to stay on both feet, Davidson teamed with Wright to provide a solid one-two punch of big hitters.
Lester lashed a scorching winner deep into the farthest left corner, chipping off a few flecks of paint as the ball exploded on the end line, as well.
Wright was the star of the show, taking full advantage of numerous opportunities, sending balls kicking left, right and then down an opponent’s throat.
Her defining moment came late in the second set.
With Bellevue having clawed back from a 10-point deficit to close the lead to 22-18, the Wolves were reeling a bit and needed a shot of confidence.
Up stepped Wright, who uncorked a high, hard one that split two Vikings defenders, caught the back line, slammed into the gym wall and rebounded halfway back down the court.
As she walked away, huge smile on her face, the only sound you could hear in the gym was the sound of Bellevue player’s knees knocking together as they trembled in fright.
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