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Posts Tagged ‘regular season finale’

Spikers shine in Sultan

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Tenley Stuurmans filled up the stat sheet Monday in Sultan. (Marquette Cunningham photo)

If it was the finale, it was a strong one.

Playing on the road Monday, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad scorched host Sultan, while the Wolf JV waged a wild brawl against the Turks before falling just short.

While the non-conference matchups against a 2A school were the final ones on the regular season schedule, there is still hope the CHS varsity will play a bit longer.

That will be decided Tuesday, when Orcas Island and Friday Harbor square off in their regular season finale.

Five of the six tickets to the District 1/2 tourney, which goes down Nov. 6-8, have been clinched.

Northwest 2B/1B League teams La Conner, Mount Vernon Christian, and Orcas are in, while District 2 is sending Forest Ridge and Auburn Adventist Academy.

Tuesday’s tilt decides (maybe) the final slot.

If Friday Harbor wins, they finish 3-7 in league play, and edge Coupeville (2-8) for that #4 seed.

But if Orcas wins, the Wolverines and Wolves finish in a stalemate and play a tiebreaker Wednesday on a neutral court in La Conner.

It would be a full win-three-out-of-five sets match, with tip-off at 5:00 PM and the winner moving on to open the district tourney Thursday.

If Coupeville gets a chance to keep going, it will be coming off a powerhouse win, having rocked Sultan 25-9, 27-25, 25-23.

The Wolves piled up 30 kills and 14 service aces as they kept their big-school rivals at bay, raising their record to 5-9-1.

 

Monday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — 6 kills, 14 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace
Teagan Calkins — 13 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, 4 aces
Ari Cunningham — 2 kills, 5 digs, 2 aces
Lexis Drake — 1 kill, 5 digs
Adeline Maynes — 6 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace
Dakota Strong — 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 solo block
Tenley Stuurmans — 5 kills, 3 digs, 22 assists, 1 solo block, 6 aces

 

Kennedy O’Neill keeps the play jumpin’. (Julie Wheat photo)

JV:

Coupeville’s second squad couldn’t quite pull out the victory but still compiled the best win/loss record of any athletic team at the school this fall.

The Wolves fell 25-20, 23-25, 25-23 to the Turks and finish 8-4 on the season.

 

Monday stats:

Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 9 digs, 7 assists, 1 ace
Isa Mc Fetridge — 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace
Kennedy O’Neill — 1 kill, 4 digs, 4 aces
Cassandra Powers — 2 kills, 1 dig, 2 assists, 4 aces
Chelsi Stevens — 3 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces
Sydney Van Dyke — 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 solo block

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Booters finish season with a bang

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

CHS boys’ soccer won four out of its final five games at home, capping things by thumping La Conner Thursday night. (Julie Wheat photos)

They were in it to the very end.

A young Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad, which had no 12th graders to honor on Senior Night, was still fighting for a playoff spot in the season finale, proof of the scrappiness of a new-look roster.

And while the Wolves just barely missed out on that postseason berth, it was through no fault of their own, as they ran visiting La Conner off the field Thursday night in a campaign-closing 4-1 win.

With the victory, its fourth in its last five games on the pitch at Mickey Clark Field, CHS finishes 3-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-9 overall.

Defending state champ Orcas Island (8-0), Mount Vernon Christian (7-1), Friday Harbor (6-2), Lopez Island (5-3) and Providence Classical Christian (4-4) will rep District 1 in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood, Grace Academy, and La Conner finish in a logjam at 1-7 in league play, two games off of Coupeville.

Having finished his first season at the helm of the CHS boys’ pitch program, Wolf coach Jim Kunz sees a bright future for the booters.

Coupeville can return every player on its roster, with 12 of 15 players being sophomores, freshmen, or 8th graders.

“One of the biggest things for us was seeing the 8th graders step up and show they can play high school ball,” Kunz said. “We’ve got potential for our future years, and for building a really strong program.”

A growing number of Wolves have committed to playing select soccer and putting in off-season work, and while the team had no seniors, coaches used the opportunity to praise their three junior captains — Sage Arends, Solomon Rudat, and Sam Richards — for providing leadership to the young guns.

“Sage has been leading on and off the field,” Kunz said in pre-game comments.

“He’s a powerhouse on the field and spends personal time keeping teammates up to date on practices and games.

“Solomon is a graceful player on the field and has a knack for maintaining his temper and composure,” the coach added.

“Sam is an amazing goalie and vocally leads the team.”

It’s a war on the pitch.

While La Conner had little left to play for, the Braves put up a good fight in the first half Thursday, forcing the Wolves to scramble to reclaim the advantage.

Coupeville got on the board fairly early, as Edmund Wilson slapped a shot past the La Conner netminder less than three minutes into play.

Unfortunately, for the Wolves, they wouldn’t score again for nearly 40 minutes.

La Conner evened things at 1-1 thanks to a well-placed penalty kick, while Coupeville’s own chance to ring up a goal on a first-half PK slammed into the crossbar and bounced away.

Richards kept the game knotted up with several strong saves, including one in which he dove to spear a dangerous ball off the top of the grass, and the Wolves finally rediscovered their magic touch.

Arends slipped in the go-ahead goal in stoppage time, sending CHS into the break with a 2-1 lead, before Wilson came back around to punch in two more scores in the second half to net the hat trick.

With the late rush, Wilson finishes the season with eight goals, putting him one ahead of Arends in the race to lead the team.

With older bothers Aiden and Cael each scoring 13 times during their prep careers, the Wilson brothers have combined for 34 goals, second-most for one family in CHS boys’ soccer history.

Who are they chasing?

The Leyvas, as brothers Abraham (45 goals) and Aram (29) netted 74. Toss in Cousin Derek (38), and the number grows to an uncanny 112.

Arends also nabbed a bit of Wolf pitch history for himself, as his goal was the 10th of his high school career, making him the 14th CHS boy to crack double-digits.

 

Final season scoring stats:

Edmund Wilson – 8
Sage Arends – 7
Brian Thompson – 2
Edmund Kunz – 1
Liam Lawson – 1

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Seniors celebrated, victory claimed

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville senior netters Ember Light (left) and Delanie Lewis are celebrated. (Photos courtesy Starla Seal and Shannon Hilborn)

The weather was cloudy, but the atmosphere was sunny.

Coupeville High School girls’ tennis hailed its veterans on Senior Night Wednesday, then went out and bounced visiting Friday Harbor off the court.

The Wolves celebrated 12th graders Delanie Lewis and Ember Light, with the former teaming up with young gun Brynn Parker to seal the deal in a 3-2 victory for CHS in Northwest 2B/1B League action.

Lewis and Brynn Parker celebrate with their biggest fan (and the ball boy for their match).

CHS finishes 2-9-1 this season, but that record is deceptive.

The Wolves increased their roster size from a year ago, debuted their new home courts, showed great growth, and were highly competitive, with all of their losses coming by razor-thin 3-2 scores.

As it has all season, Coupeville swept both singles matches Wednesday, while this time out also breaking through in a doubles bout.

The match brought an end to the regular season for the Wolves, but the postseason beckons.

Coupeville will travel to Seattle May 15, taking two singles players and two doubles teams to compete in the District 1/2 tourney at the Amy Yee Tennis Center.

Things will be intense there, as the two districts only get to send one singles player and one doubles team on to the state tourney this year.

Which means you win a bi-district crown and you’re off to Yakima. Don’t, and you’re not.

Next spring, a different district loses a slot, and two singles players and two doubles teams will once again advance from the District 1/2 tourney to state.

 

Wednesday’s results:

 

Varsity:

1st Singles — Tenley Stuurmans beat Nikki Clark Cole 6-0, 6-1

2nd Singles — Dahlia Miller beat Lyla Ovenell 6-2

1st Doubles — Ember Light/Mila Light lost to Kira Clark/Megan Mellinger 6-0, 6-0

2nd Doubles — Kauri Hamilton/Sofia Phay lost to Hazel Leighton/Norah Leighton 6-2, 6-4

3rd Doubles — Brynn Parker/Delanie Lewis beat Ava Gamez/Sofia Ramirez 6-2, 6-3

 

JV:

4th Doubles — Ashley Wells/Samantha Wallace lost to Charisse Ho/Frankie Pignatiello 6-1, 6-0

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Big bats, fast feet, many wins

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on May 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Haylee Armstrong and friends are 17-1 heading into the playoffs. (Bailey Thule photo)

Hit the ball hard and run like the wind.

It’s a good strategy, as proven time and again this season by the high-flying Coupeville High School softball squad.

And the Wolves were right back at it Tuesday, combining power and wheels to race past visiting Granite Falls 5-2 for a sweet Senior Night win.

The non-conference victory, coming against a school from a bigger classification and a former league rival, lifts Coupeville to 17-1 on the season.

Up next?

A trip to the Skagit Valley Playfields in Mount Vernon May 15 for the District 1 2B tournament.

Orcas Island and Friday Harbor clash at noon that day, with the winner returning to the diamond to face the top-seeded Wolves at 3:00 PM in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.

Keep thumping, and keep sprinting, and Coupeville softball will earn its fourth trip to the big dance, and first since 2019.

Back then, the Wolves were a 1A program and their biggest archrival was Granite Falls, who they beat twice late in the season to stun the diamond community.

Jump forward six years, and the Wolves and Tigers are no longer united by a classification, or a league, but they still can throw down a super-competitive game.

CHS coach Aaron Lucero held the Senior Night festivities — honoring lifelong teammates Taylor Brotemarkle, Chloe Marzocca, Mia Farris, Jada Heaton, and Madison McMillan — until after the game.

Smart move, as copious happy tears were shed (and that was just the dads!), flooding the diamond.

Instead, the Wolves hit the field locked ‘n loaded, nine terminators in search of targets to erase.

And while Granite Falls scraped out a run in the top of the first, Coupeville quickly gained the upper hand.

After being held scoreless in their half of the first, the Wolves pushed two runners across in the second and another in the third to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Sage vet Heaton and young gun Haylee Armstrong led off the second with back-to-back singles, with Heaton scoring the tying run on a well-executed double steal.

“If you hit a triple, I’ll hit one too, OK?” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

That came right before Brotemarkle cracked an RBI triple to left, the first of four extra-base hits for the Wolves.

Flying around the bags with glee, the senior shortstop bounded high into the air as she skidded into third, punching the prairie air and letting out a roar which was matched by her teammates on the bench.

Triples were contagious, with McMillan walloping one in the third, before coming home to tap the plate off a sac fly from Capri Anter to make it 3-1.

Heaton, having herself a well-rounded game — she also got nailed by a wayward pitch for the 3,856th time this season — made a spectacular diving, rolling catch to rob Granite of a hit in the fifth, while Wolf hurler Adeline Maynes was throwin’ smoke.

The fab frosh finished with 13 strikeouts across seven innings of work, while also fielding her position with skill, gunning down a would-be bunter with a flick of her wrist.

Coupeville tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fifth to give Maynes some breathing room, and again it was the attack of the three-baggers which lit the fire.

Farris launched a moon shot over the center fielder’s head, glided into third, then turned for home and scored when Granite had trouble with the throw back in.

Two pitches later, it was Wolf catcher Teagan Calkins crunching a laser to left for her own triple, with McMillan plating her on a sac fly that caused two defenders to crash head-first into each other.

Teagan Calkins hurts the softball. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

If Granite was harboring any hopes of a comeback, they were quickly stifled by Maynes, who picked up five more K’s across the final two innings.

It was a familiar story told with new characters, as back in 2019, Wolf hurler Izzy Wells, then a fab frosh herself, sliced ‘n diced the Tiger hitters as she led CHS to state.

Her successor came up just as big in crunch time, with Maynes dealing liquid heat, while Calkins gave her young padawan a boost by picking a runner off of third.

 

Tuesday stats:

Capri Anter — One walk
Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One triple
Teagan Calkins — One triple, one walk
Mia Farris — One triple
Jada Heaton — One single, one walk
Chloe Marzocca — One walk
Madison McMillan — One triple, one walk

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Sweet perfection, but there’s more!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Lyla Stuurmans unleashes the fury of the Valkyries. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“She mashes just like her mama used to!”

One by one, they pile up the wins, the milestones, and the records.

A senior-led Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad continues to scale new heights and Monday night’s regular season finale was no different.

Dispatching visiting Sultan 25-10, 25-9, 25-22 in a non-conference rumble as the raging Whidbey early winter wind rattled the gym, the Wolves got to an impressive 14-0 on the season.

It’s the best start ever by a CHS volleyball team — by a solid four wins — and allows the 2024 spikers to tie the 2019 and 2004 squads for the most victories in a single season.

Win #15, which would put this team atop the pile, is due to come Thursday at home, when Coupeville hosts night #1 of the two-night District 1/2 tournament.

The #2 team from District 2 and the #3 team from District 1 square off at 3:30 at the CHS gym, with the loser eliminated, and the winner advancing to play Coupeville at 5:30.

Win or lose there, and the Wolves, the #1 seed from District 1, advance to Saturday’s second round of matches in La Conner.

CHS needs two wins total at Bi-Districts to punch a return ticket to the state tournament.

When the Wolves hit the floor Thursday in pursuit of win #15, they’ll also be on the cusp of a major personal milestone.

Senior setter Katie Marti, the sparkplug that powers the Wolf attack, is just one slim assist away from notching the 1,000th of her prep career.

She entered Monday needing 27 to get to the mark, though only Wolf coaches knew of the hush-hush fact, and finished with 26 assists against Sultan.

Every single one of those set-ups brought a huge smile to the face of Marti, likely the most emotional of Coupeville’s seven veterans honored on Senior Night.

Surrounded by a pack from both the Marti and Messner clans, Killer Katie marinated in the moment with a group of young women who have played together since elementary school.

Then she and her teammates, both “old” and “young,” went out and sliced up the Turk defense.

Coupeville’s seniors, putting a positive spin on their last run together.

Coupeville bolted out to a big lead early in the first set, with seniors Chloe Marzocca and Mia Farris launching a series of hard-to-return serves.

While the scrappy Turks, a former league foe of the Wolves now operating at a 2A school, put up a battle, the hometown net crew had an answer for almost everything.

The lone CHS junior, Teagan Calkins, showcasing the full fury of her “Red Dragon” persona, erupted from the right side to mash the crud out of the volleyball.

Then Jada Heaton, bounding high to protect the middle of the net, peppered the Turks with a mighty mash of a winner, and the rout was on.

Once Lyla Sturmans went from lurking on the left side to majestically rising into the clouds and throwing down lightning bolts, Sultan could do little but try and not take an incoming fastball off the face.

Calkins cracked a winner to end the first frame in lickity-split style, and the hits kept on coming as the match moved deeper into the night.

Set two was a greatest hits compilation, with Stuurmans, Farris, and Calkins trying to outdo each other in generating nasty kills.

Meanwhile Madison McMillan was off on a glorious rampage, spraying winners from the service line, while Taylor Brotemarkle and Tenley Stuurmans kept the floor polished by digging the ball off the hardwood time and again.

Coupeville went up 2-0 with a bang, as sophomore swing player Dakota Strong rotated in and delivered a set-ending kill which sent her teammates into hysterics as the ball tore off the backline.

Sultan came in with a 10-5 record, and wasn’t going to go down without a fight, however.

The third set was the night’s toughest battle, with the Turks taking an 11-7 lead at one point.

To which the Wolves said, “nah, nah, nah,” Timothee Chalamet-style, as they roared back to reclaim the lead, the momentum, and then the match.

Farris and Stuurmans both fired off ear-popping kills which split multiple defenders and CHS broke a 21-21 tie with a strong push to the finish line.

A brutally beautiful ace off the fingertips of the quietly dangerous Calkins pushed the Wolves in front for good, while Lyla Stuurmans delivered the knockout punch with one last crowd-pleasing swing of her furious fist.

The pack, ready to attack.

Taking a brief break to savor the end of one thing — the regular season — and the start of another thing — the postseason run towards trophy town — Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore enjoyed the moment.

“It was a good night for our group of seniors, and a nice way to honor them, their families, and all the people who have supported them over the years,” he said.

“I’m really proud of Chloe (Marzocca) – she served up a good game, as did Madison as well.”

And while 14-0 is sublime, there’s great potential for more.

“This group, everyone is playing their role and rising to the moment and giving us quite a show,” Whitmore said. “But they want more, a lot more, so we’ll keep working.”

 

Monday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 6 digs
Teagan Calkins — 7 kills, 1 dig, 1 block assist, 2 aces
Mia Farris — 11 kills, 6 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces
Jada Heaton — 1 kill, 1 block assist
Katie Marti — 1 dig, 26 assists, 2 aces
Chloe Marzocca — 1 ace
Madison McMillan — 2 kills, 3 digs, 3 assists, 5 aces
Dakota Strong — 1 kill
Lyla Stuurmans — 11 kills, 4 digs, 1 assist, 2 solo blocks
Tenley Stuurmans — 7 digs, 2 aces

Avery Parker (left) and Halle Black brought down the house by belting out the national anthem to kick off the night’s festivities.

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