Ryanne Knoblich had four digs Thursday as Coupeville thrashed visiting Friday Harbor. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Alita Blouin and Co. are 9-2 in league play, with one match left on the schedule.
A nice bounce-back.
Coming off a rough start to the week, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad drilled visiting Friday Harbor in a fairly quick, efficient manner Thursday night.
The 25-5, 25-11, 25-18 win in their home finale lifts the Wolves to 9-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, 9-5 overall.
After playing three matches in four days, CHS has Friday off, then travels to Langley Saturday for the Island Invitational.
The regular season finale is Oct. 28 at Mount Vernon Christian, with the district tournament set for Nov. 3 in La Conner.
Coupeville, as the #2 team out of District 1, faces Auburn Adventist Academy (currently 8-5), the #1 seed from District 2 at 5 PM that night.
The loser is done, while the winner returns to the floor at 7:30 to face two-time defending state champ La Conner (14-0) for the district crown.
Only one school advances to state from the District 1/2 tourney this season.
Any thoughts of playoffs were still far off Thursday, as Coupeville entered play coming off of back-to-back losses to South Whidbey and La Conner.
Things got really positive from the start in this one, however, as Wolf captain Maddie Georges lit a fire beneath her team.
Rifling off 13 straight points on her serve to open the match, she got some help as Lucy Tenore and Olivia Schaffeld staggered Friday Harbor with blasts at the net.
Even after Georges had been knocked off the service stripe — thanks to a lucky Wolverine lob which caught the back of the line on a rally — the visitors were never able to string together two points in the opening set.
Savina Wells and Schaffeld blistered the hands of Friday Harbor serve returners, while the eternally-springy Lyla Stuurmans dropped a devastating running tip, then danced away into her teammate’s arms.
The second set was a little more of a battle, as the Wolverines hung around for a bit, trailing just 11-8.
Enter Wells, flying in from the side, and exit the volleyball, which erupted from her fingers, slammed into the court for a winner, and skidded away screaming bloody murder.
That launched another Wolf run, with Georges and Wells combining to pick up 10 points on their serve as Coupeville pushed its advantage way out.
CHS brought a lot more power to the show than the visitors did, but the best play probably came from libero Alita Blouin, who flipped a winner back over her shoulder while on the run, looking away from the net.
With the match well in hand, Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore was able to get floor time for all 12 of his spikers, with his swing players picking up valuable varsity experience.
Madison McMillan, Grey Peabody, and Katie Marti, stars of tomorrow, all chipped in with hustle and alert reactions while in the game.
Meanwhile, Tenore delivered a dominant performance at the net, blasting a team-high nine kills, while fab frosh Stuurmans and Wells put the fear of God into anyone foolhardy enough to wander through their hitting zone.
Thursday stats:
Alita Blouin — 1 kill, 13 digs, 2 assists
Maddie Georges — 2 kills, 6 digs, 23 assists, 1 block assist, 8 aces
Taygin Jump — 4 digs, 1 ace
Ryanne Knoblich — 4 digs
Madison McMillan — 1 ace
Grey Peabody — 1 kill
Jill Prince — 3 kills, 1 block solo, 1 block assist
Olivia Schaffeld — 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces
Lyla Stuurmans — 5 kills, 3 digs
Lucy Tenore — 9 kills
Savina Wells — 5 kills, 3 digs, 5 aces
Coupeville Sports 