Teagan Calkins shares a moment with the parental units. (Julie Wheat photo)
“I always loved volleyball, even before it was offered to me as a sport.”
Teagan Calkins, the lone senior on this year’s Coupeville High School varsity spiker crew, offered her family, coaches, and teammates some heartfelt words Thursday night before her final home match.
Then, backed by giddy fans waving large photos of her head attached to sticks, “The Red Dragon” did what she does best.
Go out and thump on people.
Delivering 13 kills, including a couple which peeled the paint off the gym floor, Calkins sparked her young teammates to a 25-23, 25-14, 25-13 victory over visiting Concrete, keeping Coupeville’s playoff hopes alive.
With the win, the Wolves — rebuilding after graduation gutted the roster from a squad which finished 4th at state last season — get to 2-7 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-8-1 overall.
CHS closes conference play with a trip to Orcas Island Oct. 28, and would currently nab the fourth, and final, berth from the NWL to the 2B district tourney.
Perhaps experiencing some Senior Night hangover, the Wolves started slowly Thursday, falling behind 5-0, and not getting back even until 21-21.
From there, Coupeville claimed its first lead at 22-21, fell back behind at 23-22, then closed with three straight points thanks to some big-time hitting.
Haylee Armstrong floated in from the left side to nail a tip winner, before Calkins erupted for back-to-back floor burner spikes to make sure Concrete knew what pain was still to come.
Even down 20-12 at one point in the opening frame, the Wolves remained in a good mood, with Armstrong kicking off a game of duck-duck-goose during a stoppage in play.
Of course, having Adeline Maynes torch Concrete from the service line, ringing up seven straight points as CHS charged back into contention, didn’t hurt, either.
Adeline Maynes is ready to fill up the stat sheet. (Marquette Cunningham photo)
Once the first set was in hand, the Wolves began to really roll.
Two Concrete players ran into each other while trying to return the first serve from Tenley Stuurmans in set #2, and it went downhill fast from there for the Lions.
Armstrong, Stuurmans, and Calkins took turns whacking winners, often times ripping off a random arm or leg from a rival in the process, and CHS romped out to a 15-4 lead.
The Wolves stretched the advantage to as many as 13 points, and a set which began with two Lions colliding ended with a Concrete server airmailing a ball that nicked Coupeville coach Scout Smith as she stood at the end of the bench.
The final set was closer — for a hot moment at least — but strong service runs from Armstrong and Maynes, and a whole bunch of mighty mashin’ from Calkins kept the Wolves in front from start to finish.
Near the end, Ari Cunningham unleashed a knee-buckling kill off a note-perfect set from Stuurmans, while Dakota Strong and Lexis Drake chipped in with quality support.
Wherever you turn, “The Red Dragon” is watching you. (Julie Wheat photo)
The final words needed to be written by Calkins, though, and she once again answered the call.
The rock-steady young woman who combines three-sport talent with classroom excellence started her prep career playing side-by-side with players older than herself.
Now, she’s the sage veteran, never too high, never too low, always there to pick up her teammates, to sign an autograph with only a slight roll of her eyes, to be consistent and reliable in the same way her coach was back in her own playing days.
Have a young son or daughter who wants to be an athlete, wants to be remembered one day as a Cow Town legend?
Tell them these words: “Be like Teagan.” Can’t go wrong that way.
Thursday stats:
Haylee Armstrong — 9 kills, 8 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace
Teagan Calkins — 13 kills, 9 digs
Ari Cunningham —2 kills, 1 dig
Lexis Drake — 2 digs, 1 ace
Adeline Maynes — 14 digs, 1 assist, 5 aces
Dakota Strong — 1 dig
Tenley Stuurmans — 2 kills, 3 digs, 25 assists, 1 ace
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