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Posts Tagged ‘SWHS Falcons’

A win, until it wasn’t

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Teagan Calkins played strongly in her varsity volleyball debut. (Jackie Saia photo)

Point by point, it slipped away.

Up two sets to none Wednesday, one point away from a straight-sets sweep, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad couldn’t drive the last nail into South Whidbey’s coffin.

Instead, the visiting Falcons held off two match points and rallied to capture an improbable 24-26, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-10 non-conference win in the season opener for both teams.

A battle royale which lasted two-and-a-half hours in a stuffy gym, played out in front of a Wolf student section which struggled to get loud ‘n proud until late in the evening, it left players, coaches, and fans slightly stunned.

The Falcons fly home with the win, to the delight of a few fans who chose to camp out in the Coupeville side of the gym, while the Wolves head back to practice needing to work on developing a killer mentality.

CHS was the better team much of the night and got strong work from sophomore Teagan Calkins and junior Madison McMillan, but made too many unforced errors to earn the win.

In particular, the Wolves, who have a roster full of exciting servers, struggled at the stripe, launching way too many balls into the bottom of the net.

Coupeville is off for a week, returning to action September 13, when it hosts Neah Bay, which will give coach Cory Whitmore and his staff time to refine things.

The new-look Wolves, who lost five players to graduation, are a work in progress, and that was never more evident than in the opening set.

Powered by strong serving from seniors Issabel Johnson and Grey Peabody, and one particularly nasty spike off the fingertips of high-bounding Lyla Stuurmans, Coupeville built an 11-6 lead.

Then everything which could go wrong did, quickly, allowing South Whidbey to tear off a 15-2 run and reclaim the lead at 21-13.

The Wolves looked disorientated, and lost, until they didn’t.

Flipping the switch back to positive, Coupeville got a burst of energy from Mia Farris, who tore off a Falcon arm with a wicked ace.

With McMillan catching fire as she was everywhere and nowhere all at once, dancing from side to side while spraying winners, the Wolves closed the set on a 13-3 surge to come all the way back.

Farris rose up to the ceiling and cracked straight fire right down the middle of the floor to seal the 26-24 set win, and the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde evening was well underway.

The second set featured four ties, with neither team able to pull away.

In a preview of things to come, South Whidbey held off two set points before Farris ended things with a ferocious spike which caught the top of the net, skidded along it as the Falcons watched it go by, then flopped on the other side for a winner.

The Wolves built a 5-0 lead in the third set behind the serving of Katie Marti, only to see the plucky Falcons hang around, eventually forcing eight different ties, the last at 22-22.

Peabody slammed a winner to stake CHS to a 24-22 lead, putting the home team on the brink of ending things in time for everyone to enjoy dinner at a reasonable time.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Falcons scored the final four points of the set, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat and prolonging things.

That delay turned into another hour, however, with the action resembling a slow-motion wreck at times for the Wolves.

Calkins, making her varsity volleyball debut after a stellar summer of smacking big base knocks for her select softball squad, rustled up a series of big-time hits, raining down pain on the Falcons.

But even with their sophomore sniper hard at work, the Wolves never led in the fourth set, and only once, at 5-4, in the fifth.

That lead vanished as quickly as it arrived, with Coupeville falling behind 10-5, and never getting closer than two points the rest of the way.

 

Wednesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 7 digs
Teagan Calkins — 8 kills, 2 digs
Mia Farris — 8 kills, 4 digs, 5 aces
Issabel Johnson — 2 digs, 1 ace
Katie Marti — 1 kill, 7 digs, 25 assists, 1 ace, 1 block assist
Madison McMillan — 2 kills, 15 digs, 5 aces
Grey Peabody — 8 kills, 3 digs, 1 block assist, 1 solo block
Lyla Stuurmans — 5 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace

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New season, same winning style

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s JV spikers are off to a winning start. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Ashley Menges is putting up some nice numbers.

The former Wolf volleyball star kicked off her fourth season as Coupeville High School JV spiker coach Wednesday, leading her team to a 25-18, 25-17, 10-8 win over visiting South Whidbey.

The only thing slowing down Menges‘ mashers was the clock, with the third (practice) set ending prematurely to allow the varsity to take the floor.

Coupeville’s second squad is 31-8 under its current coach, giving the fiery one the best winning percentage (.795) of any active Wolf coach in any sport, varsity or JV.

The spike squad actually started a bit slowly against South Whidbey, then roared to life midway through the first set.

Freshman Dakota Strong, making her debut for the school where mom Danette Beckley was a CHS Athlete of the Year, launched a spike crosscourt to spark the Wolves, and the match turned for the better in an instant.

Chloe Marzocca zipped one of her team-high four service aces past the Falcon defense to stake Coupeville to its first lead at 9-8, with Haylee Armstrong, Capri Anter, and Aby Wood adding lethal support from the service stripe.

Bounding back into the spotlight, Strong tipped a winner over a rival’s outstretched arm to ice the opening set.

Round two was a back-and-forth affair, with seven ties, the last at 14-14.

Coupeville closed like champs, running off an 11-3 surge to capture the match win.

Wood stood tall, collecting winners via both spikes and tips, while Myra McDonald, Lexis Drake, and Carly Burt chipped in with big-time hustle plays.

While the third set was just for show and destined to end when the clock hit 6:00 PM regardless of the score, Coupeville took care of business.

Marzocca sacrificed her body to save a ball, sliding across the floor to flick the falling orb back skyward, while Armstrong dropped a gorgeous tip winner which froze three Falcons in place.

Coming off their season-opening win, the Wolf JV heads back to practice.

Up next on the schedule is a non-conference home match Sept. 13 with Neah Bay.

 

Wednesday stats:

Capri Anter — 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 ace
Haylee Armstrong — 4 kills, 1 dig, 3 assists, 1 ace, 1 block assist
Chloe Marzocca — 1 kill, 2 digs, 4 aces
Myra McDonald — 1 ace
Dakota Strong — 4 kills, 1 block assist
Aby Wood — 1 kill, 5 digs, 2 aces

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Three schools, one camera

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville junior Mia Farris leads the attack. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

He was an equal opportunity cameraman.

Wanderin’ photo clicker John Fisken, back from a summer RV jaunt across America, spent Saturday in the gym, snapping pics at the Oak Harbor Volleyball Jamboree.

His photos showcase Coupeville, South Whidbey, and the host school in action, and we have a bit of all three in this story.

To see everything he shot, pop over to:

 

Coupeville:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/CHS-Volleyball-2023-2024/VB-2023-09-02-Jamboree-at-OHHS/

 

Oak Harbor:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OH-Volleyball-2023-2024/VB-2023-09-02-Jamboree-at-OHHS/

 

South Whidbey:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/South-Whidbey-HS/VB-2023-09-02-Jamboree-at-OHHS/

 

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Summer heat, hardwood heroics

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on June 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Aiden O’Neill came up huge in the final moments Wednesday in a summer ball win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

God’s chosen sport was in full bloom Wednesday night.

Basketball, of the early summer variety, was on the schedule, and Coupeville High School’s boys’ hoops squads were in action on their home hardwood.

Hosting Island rivals Oak Harbor and South Whidbey, the Wolves won two of three, pulling out a thriller in the JV game and splitting a pair of varsity tilts.

Ultimately, summer ball, with each game boasting two 20-minute halves with a running clock until the final 120 seconds, is more about improvement and growth than wins and losses.

“The boys are playing well together,” said CHS varsity coach Brad Sherman.

“And it’s summer, so we’re getting to see new groups play together and try some new stuff. It’s fun!”

The Wolves, who return most of their roster from this past winter, are scheduled to play in a variety of scrimmages and tourneys this summer, as well as attend a team camp at Gonzaga University.

 

How Wednesday’s games played out:

 

JV:

Coupeville scored the final six points to pull out a 37-36 win in a game with Oak Harbor where it led by eight early, then trailed by five late.

Down 36-31 with the clock running out, the Wolves had no room for error.

So, they played to perfection.

Jack Porter rolled down the baseline to knock down a bucket, before CHS clamped down on defense.

Oak Harbor was called for a crucial offensive foul with 36 ticks remaining — a Wildcat bowling over a Wolf defender with a resounding crunch — and Coupeville responded.

Aiden O’Neill buried a three-ball to knot the game at 36-36, his second trey in the game’s final moments, then came back around to knife the Wildcats with a game-icing free throw with six seconds on the clock.

The furious finale capped a game of extremes, as Coupeville rolled early, only to see Oak Harbor crawl back into the game behind a hail of three-balls.

Hunter and Hurlee Bronec had the hot touch early, combining for seven points as the Wolves built a 9-1 lead.

The Wildcats didn’t break however, closing the half on a 13-4 run, with a pullup jumper right before halftime pushing them out in front 16-15.

Coupeville trailed for much of the second half, briefly knotting things at 26-26 before Oak Harbor once again threatened to pull away for good.

O’Neill’s late heroics, which also included a note-perfect pass to set up Hunter Bronec for a key layup, kept the Wolves alive, with everything going exactly to script in the waning moments.

Jack Porter paced CHS with a game-high 14 points, with Hunter Bronec (8), O’Neill (7), Hurlee Bronec (4), Landon Roberts (2), and Mikey Robinett (2) also scoring.

Yohannon Sandles, Johnny Porter, and Timothy Nitta also saw floor time for the Wolves.

 

Varsity Game #1:

Blowout city, as Coupeville came out hot and never cooled off, thumping South Whidbey 47-23.

The Falcons actually scored the first bucket of the game, before the Wolves unleashed hardwood hell on their neighbors.

Logan Downes poured in 13 of his game-high 18 points during a game-busting 26-7 run, which also featured a couple of sweet buckets off the fingertips of Cole White and a beautiful hustle play by William Davidson.

The cerebral big man slid between a pair of Falcons to snatch away a rebound, before pivoting and firing a gorgeous outlet pass to Chase Anderson, who was so far ahead of the defense South Whidbey needed binoculars to watch the ensuing layup.

William Davidson, eyeballing the cameraman, is an invaluable role player. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Up 26-13 at the half, the Wolves went deep into their bench, while continuing to push their advantage.

Downes singed the nets on a corner three-ball, after pulling off a shimmy-and-go move which left his defender parked six rows up into the bleachers.

After that, he left the scoring up to the young guns fighting for roster spots, with Jack Porter and Hunter Bronec spilling sweat while dominating in the paint.

White finished with eight to back up Downes and his 18, while Anderson dropped in six points.

Nick Guay (4), Porter (4), Bronec (4), Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim (2), and Davidson (1) rounded out the scoring, while Zane Oldenstadt and Ryan Blouin were aggressive on defense.

 

Varsity Game #2:

Coupeville’s top squad returned to the floor mere moments after wiping out South Whidbey, while Oak Harbor’s main crew was fresh and playing for the first time.

Ultimately, that proved to be the difference, as the Wildcats held on for a 55-48 win.

The visitors don’t have much height, but they are quick, and threatened to bust the game open early.

Trailing 24-12 and scrabbling a bit, Coupeville rediscovered its mojo, closing the first half on a 10-0 tear.

Downes and White combined to provide the offensive fireworks, while Davidson generated the loudest audience reaction of the night after drawing a charge down low.

Coupeville actually knotted the game up at 24-24, only to have its final bucket waved off for being a fraction too late.

Instead, the Wolves came out of the very-short halftime break down two and hung tough even as they begin to exhibit tired legs down the stretch.

The biggest killer in the second half was an inability to string together buckets, as CHS only notched back-to-back baskets once in the final 20 minutes.

That gave the Wildcats a bit of breathing room, and time and again, Oak Harbor hit shots when it needed them most, holding off its scrappy small-school rivals.

Blouin peppered the net for a pair of three-balls late, while White and Downes each made the twine jump on a long shot of their own.

Unfortunately, for Downes, his three-ball, coming on the game’s final play, was waved off like Davidson’s buzzer beater in the first half, falling victim to being .000001 of a second too late.

The Wolf senior-to-be still finished with a team-high 21 points, while White banked in 11 and Blouin knocked down eight.

Guay and Anderson rattled the rims for four apiece to finish off the attack.

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Rivals or not, a tip of the hat

Posted in Baseball, Girls Tennis, Golf, Softball, Track, tagged , , , , , , , on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Marina Slowik crushes a shot on the links. (Photo courtesy Gina Slowik)

One island, two state champs.

While Coupeville celebrates Alex Murdy’s triumph in the long jump, South Whidbey also had a chance to see one of its track athletes ascend the podium at the state championships.

Falcon junior Naomi Atwood hit the tape first in the 800, wearing the crown at the 1A meet.

Fleet-footed Falcon Naomi Atwood dashes to a state title. (Emmy Atwood photo)

That victory headlines our look at how Coupeville’s league rivals, past and present, and its next-door neighbors did during the final week of the spring sports season.

 

Baseball:

Mount Vernon Christian, which shared the Northwest 2B/1B League crown with Coupeville, won two of three games at state, falling 4-2 to Naselle in the 1B title game.

The Hurricanes bounced Sunnyside Christian 4-1 and Liberty Christian 9-4 to get to the finale, which, thanks to weird Eastern Washington weather, was played at two different locations.

The game started in Ephrata, before being moved to Wenatchee after rain and lightning arrived.

After a four-plus-hour break, Naselle bounced back from an early 1-0 deficit to win its second straight title.

Over in 2B, second-seeded Toutle Lake, which eliminated Coupeville in the quarterfinals, was bit by the upset bug, as was #1 Brewster.

Instead, #4 Tri-Cities Prep claimed the title, beating #11 Adna 5-4 in a game that was, wait for it, started in one location, and finished in another thanks to weather.

Others winning titles include former Coupeville Olympic League rival Klahowya in 1A, and my alma mater Tumwater in 2A.

The T-Birds have gone back-to-back with former Major League Baseball star Lyle Overbay as coach, and the winning hit came off the bat of Brayden Oram, who I assume is the son of Jon Oram, a freshman when I was a senior at THS.

The biggest bang came in 4A, however, as Eastlake rolled to a title under the direction of coach Frank Smith.

He’s an Oak Harbor grad who played high school baseball for Hall of Fame coach Jim Waller in the early ’90s.

Eastlake baseball celebrates a state title. (Photo courtesy Frank Smith)

 

Girls Tennis:

Coupeville’s Helen Strelow played three matches at the 2B tourney, advancing to day #2 before bowing out, but I’ve already written full stories about her.

One other note of local interest was South Whidbey sending its doubles duo of Pearl Buck and Mikaela Nelson to the 1A tourney, where they fought hard before falling 6-4, 6-3 to a pair from The Bush School.

 

Golf:

Coupeville hasn’t had any duffers since Austin and Christine Fields graduated, but the other Whidbey schools operate full programs, and both sent players to the big dance.

South Whidbey’s Ryder Mulcahy finished 19th in the 1A boys battle, while teammate Henry Olsen and Falcon female ace Parker Forsyth both failed to make the cut after day one.

Oak Harbor’s Tobias Wood placed 31st in the 3A boys’ tourney, while Addison Nations finished 34th in the girl’s rumble.

The Wildcats qualified their entire girls’ team, with Reagan Syring, Hailey Jenzen, Scarlett Nations, Marina Slowik, and Annalise Wesley competing on day #1.

While all of the OHHS golfers contributed to a strong season, one has a Coupeville connection and gets extra props.

Slowik’s mom, Gina (Dozier) Slowik, was a Videoville employee way back in the day.

When I got hired to start my 12-year run of mainlining Reese’s Pieces and VHS tapes, it was because she was headed off to college, opening up a spot behind the counter.

Marina’s aunt, softball sensation Laura “L-Train” (Crandall) Dozier worked for Miriam’s Espresso, as well, when that business shared a storefront, and owner, with Videoville.

And Laura’s future husband, legendary Coupeville basketball hype man Steven “Cash Money” Dozier, who is also Gina’s brother and Marina’s uncle?

During his high school days, he drank so much Italian soda syrup at Miriam’s, his blood once tested out at 98.3% sugar.

True story.

 

Softball:

Darrington, which finished 3rd in the Northwest 2B/1B League, was the lone conference school to make it to state, going two and out in the 1B tourney.

The Loggers fell 10-0 to eventual state champ Liberty Christian and 11-8 to Almira/Coulee/Hartline.

Friday Harbor, which edged Coupeville by a single run for the league title and the region’s only 2B playoff berth, lost 9-5 to Raymond in the District 1/4 crossover game, a win shy of punching its ticket to the big dance.

Forks, which features Wolf coaching legend Ron Bagby’s niece, Chloe Gaydeski, claimed a program-best 2nd place finish, falling to powerhouse Adna in the 2B title game.

The Spartan fab frosh smashed a two-run homer in the title game and pitched her team to a win in the semifinals, flinging strikes on 38 of 48 pitches.

And may I just say, maybe it’s time Ron Bagby’s whole family parts ways with always-damp Forks and decamps for frequently windswept Coupeville.

It would make family reunions super-easy; it would give the ol’ ball coach something to do with his spare time if he could watch all of his niece’s games in person, and Coupeville Sports would add to its roster of headline-worthy athletes.

It’s a win-win, if you ask me.

Not that anyone is…

 

Track and Field:

Alex Murdy’s state title was one of five won by NWL athletes, with La Conner and Mount Vernon Christian each picking up two.

The Hurricane girls finished 3rd in the 1B team standings — matching Coupeville’s girls, who did the same in 2B — with a pair of relay wins sparking things.

MVC hit the tape first in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400, with Ruthie Rozema, Isabel Dowrey, and Avery McCullough running on both teams.

Caitlin VanderKooy (4 x 2) and Josephine Swinburnson (4 x 4) rounded out the roster for the private school powerhouse.

Back in the 2B tilt, La Conner’s Tommy Murdock swept the 110 and 300 hurdles, as the Braves finished 9th in the team standings to Coupeville’s 5th place finish.

One Whidbey, kickin’ fanny and takin’ names. (Emmy Atwood photo)

Over in 1A, Naomi Atwood, as mentioned above, won the 800, while also finishing 3rd in the 1600.

Other Falcons to medal included Sierra Muller (3rd in the pole vault), Cole Tschetter (3rd in the 300 hurdles), and Cody Redford, who went 3rd in the high jump and 6th in the long jump.

Finally, the 3A meet saw Oak Harbor snag three medals.

The Wildcats put Noah Turner (2nd in the discus), Karen Salinger (7th in the long jump) and its girls 4 x 2 team on the podium.

That relay unit, which finished 5th, was comprised of Tessa Hughes, Addisen Boyer, Audrey Hart, and Salinger.

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