CMS 8th grader Lucy Tenore, seen here in an earlier match, delivered a big-time performance Wednesday against Langley. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
One court, four matches, 10 sets, 255 minutes of sitting on the hardest bleachers in all of creation, 393 points, 12,000 screams and a million hustle plays.
Wednesday offered many things for middle school volleyball fans, from an endurance test for our rumps (we all lost…) to a chance to watch mostly-friendly Island rivals go toe-to-toe.
And while visiting Langley came away with better results, winning three of four matches, the hometown Coupeville spiker squads pulled off their share of dazzling plays and grace under fire.
The matches, in the order they were played:
8th grade varsity:
The second-closest match of the day, as CMS pushed Langley to three sets, before falling 25-16, 22-25, 25-8.
Coupeville got big-time performances from Lucy Tenore and Alita Blouin, among others, while Vivian Farris dropped the single most-beautiful shot of the entire afternoon right at crunch time, but the Cougars ultimately had too much power and too much precision.
Leading the way for the visitors was Morgan Batchelor, who could already be starting for a lot of high school teams even if she’s not, technically, in high school.
Unleashing spikes with a power rarely seen at the middle school level, the Langley terror dominated at the net and the service stripe, with her play reminiscent of former Coupeville star Sarah Mouw. And that’s a major compliment.
While Wolf fans say silent prayers Batchelor and her family decide to move up-Island to Cow Town for her high school days (hey, I can dream…), they can appreciate her already well-rounded game, even as her blasts left all of us a bit shell-shocked.
Tenore responded with some of her own power in the opening set, rifling several winners, while Blouin and Gwen Gustafson put together nice runs at the service stripe.
CMS fought back from five down to knot things up at 12-12, only to have Batchelor crush all the air out of the ball with a set-swinging kill which tore off a chunk of the back line.
That sparked a 13-4 run to close the set by Langley, and could have deflated all of Coupeville’s will.
Instead, the Wolves flashed some nice grit, taking a back-and-forth brawl that raged through much of the second set.
Taygin Jump and Gustafson dropped back-to-back daggers, lofting sideways shots which pierced the Langley defense, Maddie Georges and Ryanne Knoblich were strong on serve, while Blouin scraped shot after shot off the floor.
With the set tied at 22-22, CMS needed a hero, and Farris was ready.
The two teams kept the ball hoppin’ during an intense rally, with the Cougars appearing to have a put-away to go ahead.
Instead, Farris, sliding in from the side, dropped a sweet, and perfectly-placed, shot up and over her shoulder.
The ball kissed the top of the net, hung in air for an eternity, then dropped like an anvil on Langley’s side, bouncing away for an unexpected winner as all the Wolves and Cougars screamed in unison.
Coupeville seized the momentum, with Tenore blasting a serve off of a Langley player’s face, and a point later, the match was headed to a third and final set.
While the last frame went too quickly, and in the wrong direction, for the Wolves, they did get a beauty of a fingertip block from Tenore, a great one-armed hustle save from Hayley Fiedler and a note-perfect jump tip from the appropriately-named Jump.
8th grade JV:
The brawl to end them all, as the two teams split, with Langley taking the opening set 27-25, before Coupeville rebounded to claim the second frame 25-22.
Since we ended up being in the gym for 4+ hours, would it have hurt to trim some of the (many, many) warm-up periods and let these two squads play a deciding third set?
I think not, but those kind of decisions are above my pay grade, so I content myself by sitting back and whining about things afterward.
Anyways.
The opening set, despite a flawless tip winner from Jill Prince and a smokin’ hot ace off the hand of Cypress Socha, seemed to be all Cougars, all the time.
Until it wasn’t.
Down 21-10, Coupeville went on a 9-3 run, powered by some nasty, and very effective, Allie Lucero serves, to make it a fight.
Even then, the Wolves trailed 24-19, with the Cougars on match point.
Cue the second, even-more impressive CMS run.
Katie Buskala lobbed a drop shot winner which split a pair of Cougar defenders, than the other Lucero twin, Maya, got the ball in her hands and went berserk at the line, lacing aces which spit fire as they singed the net on their way past.
From the brink of defeat, the Wolves held off five set points, eventually grabbing their first, and only, lead of the set at 25-24.
While Langley calmed down and pulled away with three straight points to claim the frame, the comeback lit a fire under the Coupeville players.
The second set was their showcase, as Gustafson lashed a winner from the middle of the court to kick things off, before Socha, Buskala, Gustafson and Maya Lucero dominated on serve.
CMS led almost start to finish, just falling behind by a single point twice, with Buskala and Prince coming up with big shots to hold off Langley down the stretch.
7th grade JV:
Langley’s serving dominance carried it to a 25-9, 25-15 victory.
Coupeville’s MVP in the opening set was Lauren Marrs, who dropped in several winners and staged a one-woman rally on a point in which she was the lone Wolf to hit the ball, and kept it in play through four exchanges.
The Wolves only claimed a single point off their serve in the first frame, but it was a sizzlin’ ace from Melanie Navarro.
Jordyn Rogers emerged as Coupeville’s best hope at the line in the second set, popping a pair of aces during a run of four straight points on her serve, while Brenna Silveira lobbed a winner off a return, catching the last flake of paint on the back line.
7th grade varsity:
With very few 7th graders on its roster, Coupeville essentially played the same lineup as in the JV match, and Langley’s top squad, crammed full of ferocious servers, rolled to a 25-4, 25-11, 25-9 victory.
The first set featured a phenomenal shot by Desi Ramirez, as the Wolf youngster lobbed the ball back over her head, while looking the other way.
The ball caught the back line and caught the Cougars flat-footed, for maybe the only time in the match.
After that, highlights included Marrs putting together two more solid runs on serve, Kaitlyn Leavell sliding a winner across the net on mom Sarah’s birthday, and solid all-around play from Jesse Ross-McMahon.
Every Wolf in action Wednesday contributed, whether it was hustle, chipping in on rallies or chattering positively to teammates, with Ava Mitten, Lily Meyers, Skylar Parker, Hayley Thomas and Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson giving the jam-packed CMS gym something to cheer.
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