Grey Peabody will destroy you. (Kaitlyn Leavell photos)
The power of Grey Peabody compels you.
Thursday night’s varsity volleyball rumble in the wilds of Darrington was close for a hot second, until the Coupeville High School senior middle blocker unleashed Hell on the Loggers.
Mashing all the air out of the unlucky orb midway through the first set, Peabody turned a tense affair into a romp, propelling the Wolves to a straight-sets win.
Her spike, which made the walls of the Darrington gym quake and her JV teammates in the stands go bonkers, sparked a 25-16, 25-18, 25-14 victory.
That lifts the Wolves to 4-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 8-4 overall, and runs their win streak to seven straight heading into the biggest match of the season.
When Tuesday rolls around, four-time defending 2B state champ La Conner (7-0, 9-6) will arrive in Cow Town, where a hyped-up Coupeville spiker crew awaits.
The Wolves upended the Braves at the South Whidbey Invite earlier this season and came within a play or two of snapping their 12+ year league winning streak during a five-set road thriller in late September.
While CHS fell just short that night, that was its last loss, as the Wolves have gone 7-0 in October and are ankling for the best playoff seeding available.
While there are seven schools in the NWL, three are 2B and four are 1B, and it’s the matches against rivals in your own classification which determine playoff positioning.
Two of three 2B schools advance to districts, and in that battle La Conner is 3-0, Coupeville is 1-1, and Friday Harbor 0-3.
Upend the Braves Tuesday, then drub cellar dweller Friday Harbor for a second time in the regular season finale Oct. 26, and the Wolves tie for the #1 seed from District 1 and force a tiebreaker.
The four-team, double-elimination district tourney — from which two schools advance to state — starts Oct. 30 with matches on the home floors of the top seeds from District 1 and 2.
The remainder of the tourney is Nov. 1 at La Conner and the bracket (not yet filled in) can be found here:
http://www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4102
Issabel Johnson and Co. are playing their best ball as the playoffs approach.
Tuesday’s tilt in Darrington, while not affecting Coupeville’s playoff hopes, did give the Wolves a chance to move back up into 3rd place in the overall league standings behind La Conner and Orcas Island (7-1), and the Wolves took advantage.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with the triple threat trio of Peabody, Lyla Stuurmans, and Mia Farris peppering Darrington defenders with nasty spikes as CHS clung to a 17-15 lead.
That was the moment when Peabody elevated and drove a stake through the heart of Logger Nation.
Her maniac mash sparked an 8-1 run to end the set, with Teagan Calkins coming up huge at the service line to put a cap on things.
“Grey came up big tonight, attacking so efficiently and they didn’t have an answer,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.
“Her efficiency was impressive, but it was also how she moved the ball around.”
“Teagan was also quietly efficient too, committing zero errors,” Whitmore added.
“She was big slowing the ball down with her block and then got back to the service line for a couple long runs.”
Darrington still had a little fight, bouncing back from a 4-0 deficit to open the second frame to claim a brief lead at 10-9.
Enter Mia Farris, lashing lasers, and exit the Loggers.
Peabody continued to dominate at the net, with Madison McMillan scorching slicers that carved their way through the defense and Katie Marti and Taylor Brotemarkle chasing down every wayward ball.
Madison McMillan filled up the stat sheet but was robbed of a brilliant kill by a blind ref, who insisted (incorrectly) the ball was out.
Calkins cracked off a lightning bolt on set point, and a lot of the air sucked out of the Darrington gym.
The final set was over, and over fairly quickly, with Coupeville getting big runs at the service line from Stuurmans, Calkins, and Marti.
The victory capped an impressive week for the Wolves, who knocked off non-conference foes Providence Classical Christian and The Bush School to lead into the Darrington match.
“We made it through a long week of three games with three good wins and we are pretty excited about that,” Whitmore said.
“Darrington always shows up tough in the first set and we had to battle back and forth with them,” he added.
“Their crowd really creates a rough environment to come into and be successful, so I’m proud of our focus and tenacity.”
Now the focus shifts to a new week and new opponents.
“Fun to see them play so connected and cohesive,” Whitmore said. “Through ups and downs, they never fractured or hesitated.
“We look to keep getting better each day.”
Lyla Stuurmans gets Jada Heaton ready for battle.
Thursday stats:
Taylor Brotemarkle — 4 digs
Teagan Calkins — 4 kills, 2 digs, 2 aces, 1 solo block, 1 block assist
Mia Farris — 9 kills, 9 digs
Jada Heaton — 2 digs, 1 block assist
Issabel Johnson — 1 dig, 1 ace
Katie Marti — 10 digs, 30 assists, 1 block assist
Madison McMillan — 1 kill, 13 digs, 2 assists, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 14 kills, 1 dig, 1 block assist
Lyla Stuurmans — 7 kills, 5 digs
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