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Posts Tagged ‘Northwest League’

Split decision on Lopez pitch

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf junior Cael Wilson has scored for Coupeville High School soccer in all four seasons he’s played. (Nick Guay photo)

Long day, all the feelings.

The Coupeville High School soccer squad jumped island to island Wednesday, alighting on Lopez, where the Wolves played two games before making the long return trip to Whidbey.

The journey home was made with mixed emotions, as the JV team basked in the afterglow of its first victory, while the varsity squad dealt with a loss which erases much of its playoff hopes.

How the day played out:

 

Varsity:

“Kids are broken. Me too…”

So spoke Wolf coach Robert Wood after an emotional last-second defeat.

At one point this season, the Coupeville varsity was ranked as high as #4 in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association RPI rankings.

But a recent three-game skid in conference action, made worse by a 3-2 loss in overtime to Lopez, will make it exceedingly difficult for the Wolves to advance to the playoffs.

Postseason hopes are not completely dead, but they are on serious life support.

The loss drops CHS to 2-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-5 overall, and pins them in 6th place in a nine-team league from which the top four teams advance to the district tourney.

Defending state champ Friday Harbor (6-0 in league), Providence Classical Christian (5-1), and Mount Vernon Christian (4-1) are close to locking down the top three slots.

After that, Lopez (3-2) and Orcas Island (3-2) sit a game-and-a-half up on Coupeville in the battle for the final playoff berth, while Grace Academy (1-5), La Conner (1-5), and Cedar Park Christian-Bothell (0-5) are all but eliminated.

The Wolves host La Conner Friday for Senior Night, then close the regular season on the road Oct. 24 with a game on Orcas Island.

Wednesday’s game came within a few seconds of being decided in a penalty kick shootout, but Lopez broke through to score the winner in stoppage time at the tail end of the last overtime.

Coupeville’s goals came off the feet of sophomore Ezra Boilek and junior Cael Wilson.

Boilek, in his first year as a CHS booter, tallied his team-high seventh goal of the season, while Wilson punched in his second.

Now in his fourth season as a Wolf after making his varsity debut as an 8th grader, the latter has recorded six career goals.

 

Josh Lujan notched his first high school goal Wednesday on Lopez Island. (Jackie Saia photo)

 

JV:

They saved their best for last.

The Wolf JV, a co-ed team playing in a boys’ league, blanked Lopez 2-0 behind goals from Josh Lujan and Solomon Rudat.

It was the first time this season both players had scored, and the victory lifts the second unit’s final record to 1-3-1.

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Fight, fight, fight for first place

Posted in standings, tagged , , , , , on October 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Riley White, looking for those W’s. (Jackie Saia photo)

Gas up the busses.

Coupeville High School fall sports teams hit the road for six of their eight contests this coming week.

Cross country heads to Mount Vernon Christian Thursday for the Northwest 2B/1B League Championships, while football plays under Friday Night Lights at La Conner.

Meanwhile, Wolf soccer sends its JV team to MVC Monday, then its varsity squad to Lopez Island Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Night at home against La Conner Friday wraps up a busy week for the booters.

Noelle Western powers for the finish line as Coupeville coaches Elizabeth Bitting and Amber Wyman cheer. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

CHS volleyball also plays three times, kicking things off with a home match Monday against Providence Classical Christian.

A day later the Wolves travel to Seattle to tangle with The Bush School, before heading to the wilds of Darrington Thursday to put a cap on things.

As they pack all the snacks (and pillows), a look at standings through games of Oct. 14:

 

Northwest League boys’ soccer:

School League Overall
Friday Harbor 5-0-0 8-1-0
PC Christian 4-1-0 8-3-0
MV Christian 3-1-0 9-2-1
Orcas Island 3-2-0 6-5-0
Lopez Island 2-2-0 4-4-0
Coupeville 2-3-0 5-4-0
Grace Academy 1-4-0 1-8-0
La Conner 1-4-0 3-7-0
CPC-Lynnwood 0-4-0 3-7-0

 

Northwest League football — (11-Man):

School League Overall
Friday Harbor 3-0 4-2
Coupeville 1-1 1-6
La Conner 0-3 1-5

 

Northwest League football — (8-Man):

School League Overall
Darrington 1-0 6-1
Concrete 0-1 5-2

 

Northwest League volleyball:

School League Overall
La Conner 6-0 7-6
Orcas Island 5-1 8-3
Darrington 4-2 10-3
Coupeville 3-2 5-4
MV Christian 2-4 6-5
Concrete 1-6 5-8
Friday Harbor 0-6 0-11

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Sizzlin’ serves, valiant victory

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Grey Peabody dominated at the net Thursday, sparking Coupeville to a key league win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re on a tear.

Since coming dangerously close to ending four-time defending 2B state champ La Conner’s 12+ year conference winning streak in a five-set thriller, the Coupeville High School varsity spikers have rocked their foes.

The Wolves have won four straight, with win #4 coming at home Thursday against Mount Vernon Christian.

Coming from behind to nail down a 19-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15 victory, CHS improves to 3-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-4 overall.

Up next for the Wolves are back-to-back non-conference matches, with Providence Classical Christian (10-5) coming to Whidbey Monday, Oct. 16.

The next night, Coupeville enjoys a bus trip to Seattle to square off with The Bush School, which sits at 5-6.

Thursday’s win capped a week in which the Wolves won two of two in their own gym while dealing with all the side events associated with Homecoming.

“Really good team win tonight and super proud of the girls for their maturity as they fought through each set,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.

“MVC is much improved from previous seasons, and we knew we’d need to show up.”

The Hurricanes, who, like Coupeville, upended La Conner during the South Whidbey Invite, came out strongly, but the Wolves responded in kind.

“We played well even in dropping the first set, but MVC played very tenacious and very clean out of the gates,” Whitmore said.

“That’s the maturity and resiliency I’m proud of with the win tonight – they continued to trust and stick to our systems and just elevate it within the game plan, and it really panned out.”

Stellar play at the service stripe was key to the win.

Issabel Johnson cracks off a fearsome serve. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“We HAD to serve tough tonight and that was where we came up big with all six servers,” Whitmore said.

“Our best set was the second, where we only committed two errors the entire set which is difficult to pull off while remaining aggressive.”

Across the board, the Wolves brought ferocious play to the floor.

“Madison (McMillan) covered so much of the court and just pinpointed her serving locations tonight,” Whitmore said.

“Katie (Marti) did a great job of distributing the ball. She made really smart choices and delivered the ball to her hitters, keeping them in rhythm.”

In particular, the fiery setter was on the same wavelength with senior slugger Grey Peabody.

“Katie and Grey really connected, but Grey was so smart tonight with her ball placement and aggressiveness on the overpasses,” Whitmore said.

“She also had to adjust her block and made it happen on the fly.”

While Peabody slammed home 12 kills, junior Mia Farris was hot on her heels, peppering the Hurricanes with 11 winners of her own.

“Mia had the offensive game she (and everyone) knew she could,” Whitmore said. “She’s been working so hard on her attack approach, and it popped tonight.

“She was zeroed in on the service line, and had such an air of confidence, there were moments that she truly took over the set.”

As Coupeville heads into Friday’s Homecoming parade and football game, and Saturday’s dance, the spikers are flying high, as they should be.

The Wolves celebrate another win. (Jackie Saia photo)

“They had to maintain a high level of energy and focus for a significant amount of time, and so I’m very proud of the way they pulled together to make it happen,” Whitmore said.

“Fun to get a Homecoming win.”

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 2 digs
Teagan Calkins — 4 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces, 1 solo block, 2 block assists
Mia Farris — 11 kills, 8 digs, 6 aces, 1 solo block
Jada Heaton — 1 dig
Issabel Johnson — 1 ace
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 5 digs, 27 assists, 8 aces
Madison McMillan — 17 digs, 2 assists, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 12 kills, 3 solo blocks, 2 block assists
Lyla Stuurmans — 7 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace, 2 solo blocks

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Rough day for booters

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Cael Wilson and Co. are battling for a playoff berth. (Lyla Stuurmans photo)

This one stings.

The Coupeville High School varsity boys’ soccer team entered Thursday ranked #4 in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association RPI rankings.

They won’t be in the same spot tomorrow.

After only losing to teams ranked ahead of them — #1 Friday Harbor and #3 Mount Vernon Christian — the Wolves fell 4-0 at Bothell to host Providence Classical Christian, which was ranked #9.

It’s the first time the CHS varsity has been shut out this season, with the loss coming to a team it beat 2-0 a month ago in a game classified as a non-conference affair.

The defeat drops Coupeville to 2-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, 5-4 overall, with three conference rumbles left on the regular-season schedule.

Currently sitting 5th in the nine-team NWL, the Wolves close with a road trip to Lopez Island (Oct. 18), a home tilt with La Conner (Oct. 20), and a trek to Orcas Island (Oct. 24).

CHS trails Friday Harbor (4-0), MVC (3-1), Orcas (3-1), and PCC (3-1) in the conference standings.

Meanwhile, Lopez (1-2), Grace Academy (1-3), La Conner (1-4), and Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (0-3) are battling in the basement.

As they headed home from Bothell, Wolf coaches Robert Wood and Kimberly Kisch preferred to make the trip mostly in quiet contemplation.

“Man, it was a rough game,” Kisch said, and, with that, we’ll leave the loss in the rear-view mirror and move on to potentially better days.

 

JV has tilt on tap:

Coupeville’s second squad returns to action before the varsity does, travelling to Mount Vernon Christian Tuesday, Oct. 16 for a game.

The Wolf JV sits at 0-2-1 on the season.

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Spikers win big on somber night

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Issabel Johnson delivered three service aces Tuesday to help Coupeville capture a straight-sets win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

High school sports are larger than life, until they’re not.

Tuesday night the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball team rolled to its third-straight win, sweeping visiting Concrete off the floor.

The reaction to the 25-16, 25-14, 25-6 victory quickly became muted, however, as Lion coach Kevik Rensink gathered his players to inform them a classmate died earlier in the day after a car accident.

The young man lived in the same neighborhood as the Concrete coach, and his death comes just months after that school’s superintendent died after crashing into a tree.

Coupeville players and coaches joined their Concrete counterparts to the side of the floor, trying in some small way to ease their pain before the Lions departed for the trip back home.

Wolf team moms traditionally give road snacks to visiting players, and this time was no different, except for being delivered with quiet words of comfort.

Coming on the same night that Coupeville held its annual Dig Pink night to raise funds for those battling breast cancer, the events offer a stark reminder that there are things which matter far more than wins and losses.

“We feel for Kevik and his players, and everyone in Concrete,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.

“This is going to be a hard time for all involved, and we wanted to make sure they had what they needed before getting home safely.”

CHS coach Cory Whitmore lays out some strategy for his players. (Jackie Saia photo)

The match itself was a fast-moving one, as Coupeville dominated play from start to finish.

The Wolves never trailed, jumping out to 5-0, 2-0, and 8-0 leads across the three sets, with just one tie at 2-2 (very) early in the middle frame.

Coupeville’s spikers, while not playing flawlessly — perhaps distracted a bit by Homecoming week activities — were still able to flip the switch every time they needed to do so.

The Wolves peppered Concrete with precision serves, racking up 14 aces and keeping the Lions from mounting much of a resistance off of their returns.

Once the ball was in play, big hitters Lyla Stuurmans, Grey Peabody, Teagan Calkins, and Mia Farris took turns cranking winners out of the reach of their rivals.

Stuurmans, showing some serious hops, bounded across the court, slicing in from both sides to smash the air out of the ball, while Peabody was a particular force on defense, snuffing out many of Concrete’s best shots.

While everyone lurking around the net contributed, none was happier to do so than Jada Heaton.

The team spark plug delivered back-to-back kills in the second set, then came back around to crunch some more balls in the final frame, a giddy smile on her face as she continues to live her best life.

“I am Jada! Hear me roar!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Now 2-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, 4-4 overall after earning Cory Whitmore his 80th win as head coach at CHS, the Wolves return to action Thursday when they welcome Mount Vernon Christian to Whidbey.

JV tips at 5:00 PM, varsity at 6:30.

 

Tuesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 3 digs
Teagan Calkins — 5 kills, 1 ace
Mia Farris — 6 kills, 7 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace
Jada Heaton — 4 kills, 1 assist
Issabel Johnson — 3 aces
Katie Marti — 4 kills, 2 digs, 24 assists, 5 aces, 1 block assist
Madison McMillan — 8 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace
Grey Peabody — 5 kills, 1 assist, 1 block assist
Lyla Stuurmans — 10 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces, 1 solo block

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