Hope “The Surgeon” Lodell, hard at work. (John Fisken photo)
Lauren Grove was the rock Tuesday, holding everything together. (Justine McGranahan photo)
The match ended the only way it could — with a bang.
Rising off the floor in unison, Wolf teammates Katrina McGranahan and Lauren Grove teamed up to emphatically stuff a would-be spike from Bellevue Christian, sending the ball skidding off the floor and their teammates jumping into each others arms.
The 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 win Tuesday over the visiting Vikings lifted the Coupeville High School JV spikers to 2-2 and left coach Amy King sporting a smile.
And why not? Her squad played inspired ball for much of the match, controlling play and pulling off several superb plays.
While the joint stuff at the end rattled the building, the final point of the first set was probably even more beautiful.
Allison Wenzel, sliding across the floor, sliced a service return that skidded across the net, tiptoed through three Vikings and caught the very last flake of paint on the sideline for a winner that got the biggest roar of the night from the crowd.
It capped a first set that started as a runaway (the Wolves jumped out to an 18-4 lead behind precision serving from Payton Aparicio and McGranahan and back-to-back gorgeous, point-winning tips off the fingertips of Kameryn St Onge), turned a bit sticky, then got back on track.
Holding things together was Grove, who calmly directed traffic, at least when she was on her feet.
Willing to sacrifice her body for the good of the team, she frequently risked life and limb chasing balls, usually saving even the ones dead set on getting away.
The next two sets played out remarkably similar for the Wolves.
They jumped on Bellevue quickly, let up a bit, then put the other foot down. Hard.
The second set opened with Maggie Crimmins dropping in a string of winners on serve, before McGranahan unleashed a spike that seemed to be flying out of bounds, only to catch the very back corner of the court at the last second.
As the linesman jumped and waved like a madman, unable to fully believe the miracle he had witnessed, the last ounce of strength crumbled from the Vikings.
Bellevue briefly rallied, but Aparicio was lights-out at the service stripe, denying that dream.
From there, Coupeville cruised home with the win, getting several big-time plays in the final set.
Grove won a frantic tip-fest at the net in which both sides ricocheted the ball back-and-forth for several moments before the Wolf sophomore deposited a winner just out of reach of her counterparts.
St Onge, becoming ever more confident with her power game as the season rolls on, once again hit on back-to-back winners, Hope Lodell was everywhere at once, slicin’ ‘n dicin’ as only “The Surgeon” can, and all that was left for Bellevue’s JV to do was decide what snacks they would buy at the concession stand post-match.
Cause, otherwise, they were done.
Coupeville Sports 