Scout Smith, destroyer of worlds. (John Fisken photo)
Scout Smith is the T-Rex. Everyone else is just the meal.
Making an especially strong high school debut, the Coupeville freshman punctuated her first day of school Tuesday by unleashing a seriously nasty serve that left Mount Vernon Christian players madly looking for someplace, any place, to hide.
Spoiler alert: they weren’t safe, even back on the bus.
At one point Smith reeled off 18 consecutive points on her serve, including the final 13 points of the second set, sparking the Wolf JV to a 25-20, 25-11, 25-15 romp over the visiting Hurricanes.
And yet, as on-target as Hunter and CJ’s lil’ sis was, she was far from the only Coupeville player to sparkle in the season-opener.
The Wolves, utilizing a young and talented roster, ran a constant stream of players onto the floor, and every one of them seemed to have the magic touch.
Things kicked off in high style as freshman Hannah Davidson rose up and pounded home a winner about three seconds into the match, claiming the season’s first point before most of the fans had settled into their seats.
After that, it was like a collection of SportsCenter highlights from the stars of tomorrow.
Raven Vick lashed a gorgeous spike that caught the back-line, Lucy Sandahl poked a winner into the smallest of gaps between two rivals and the Wolf service game was en fuego.
Zoe Trujillo, Maddy Hilkey, Vick, Sandahl and Smith (who was just warming up) all delivered crisp serves in the opening set, before Smith went nuclear in set #2.
With the Wolves up a set and clinging to a 12-11 lead, they handed the ball to Smith and (metaphorically at least) turned out the lights on the Hurricanes.
Smith opened by cracking a zinger that sliced several toes off of the MVC returner, then mixed up screaming serves with devious ones which dipped and dropped at the last second.
As super fan/team mom Amy Briscoe went berserk — “I LIKE THAT GIRL!!!!!!” — Smith, Coupeville’s most placid ace, kept the family tradition alive by maintaining a perfect poker face throughout most of her run.
Having swept the first two sets, CHS had the match in hand (JV teams play best two of three) but the two teams had extra time on the clock and decided to continue play.
Which was basically an excuse for the Wolves to open a further can of whup-ass, with Maya Toomey-Stout, Willow Vick, Melia Welling and others coming up with big plays.
Welling’s was especially sweet, as the frosh threw down a hook shot that skimmed over the heads of several Hurricanes and dropped in for a winner that seemed to catch a lot of people by surprise, most especially the beaming player who had just pulled off the surprise shot.
With the end of the match in sight, and the battered and bruised Hurricanes ankling for the door, Smith returned to put a final exclamation point on things.
On what would turn out to be her next-to-last serve, and the 27th point she won at the stripe on the night, she launched a wicked slice that caught a Mount Vernon player square in the arm, before ricocheting across the gym.
As the Hurricane gingerly rubbed her elbow, Smith let a small smile slip around the corner of her mouth.
It was the grin of a stone-cold killer.
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