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Quick and classy!!

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , on March 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Maggie Crimmins teamed with Kameryn St Onge to pull out a doubles win Monday. (John Fisken)

Maggie Crimmins teamed with Kameryn St Onge to pull out a doubles win Monday. (John Fisken)

Everything went to plan.

Playing on its home courts Monday, the Coupeville High School girls’ tennis squad enjoyed sunny skies, warm weather, no breeze and a chance to paddle an opponent.

Facing a Friday Harbor team that was very young and very much in the development stage, the Wolves romped to a 6-1 win, their first official victory of the season.

Coupeville now sits at 1-1, with two matches (a 3-1 lead over Granite Falls and a 3-3 tie with Klahowya) still waiting to be finished later in the season.

The Wolves hit the road Wednesday to face Island arch-rival South Whidbey in Langley, then sit until Apr. 12.

Facing off with a green Wolverine squad (more than half its players are newcomers and the coach is in his first season), Coupeville put them down quickly.

Only two varsity matches resembled anything close to a battle.

Playing pro sets instead of the normal best two-of-three sets format to allow Friday Harbor time to ankle to the ferry, Coupeville dropped two or fewer games in five of seven contests.

Best moments:

Valen Trujillo dropping a series of lobs over her opponents head, artfully using her shot-making skills to baffle her foe.

Bree Daigneault rolling her eyes way into the back of her head and moaning “Moooooooooooommmmm, you’re making me nervous,” and then immediately proving she wasn’t really all that nervous by whipping a winner down the line.

The entire CHS squad proving once again it is the kindest, politest, most considerate tennis squad I have ever witnessed, stopping to compliment their opponents on almost every shot, even when the Wolves were rolling.

When I played at Tumwater High School back in the day, we took great delight in hitting our own teammates during practice and once set off a near-riot while in Aberdeen.

Monday, almost to a girl, the Wolves went out of their way to personally thank the Friday Harbor girls for making the trip to Whidbey.

Kids today, so much classier than we ever were…

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st singles — Valen Trujillo beat Morgan Timmons 8-0

2nd singles — Sydney Autio beat Alli Benz 8-1

3rd singles — Bree Dagineault beat Madeline King 8-2

1st doubles — Payton Aparicio/Sage Renninger beat Jillian Urbach/Lucy Urbach 8-0

2nd doubles — Jazmine Franklin/McKenzie Bailey beat Midi Thomas/Mariah Dannibar 8-2

3rd doubles — Maggie Crimmins/Kameryn St Onge beat Katy Kalseth/Joely Loucks 8-6

4th doubles — Julia Borges/Julianne Sem lost to Morgan Timmons/Isabelle Brown 8-3

JV:

5th doubles — Kenzi LaRue/Jazmine Franklin lost to Yasmin Sara/Calina DePue 6-4

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Edge of your seat!!

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , , on March 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Bree Daigneault (John Fisken photo)

   Wolf junior Bree Daigneault rolled to a straight-sets win at #2 singles Thursday. (John Fisken photo)

The fate of the world, or at least a tennis match, will hang on a thread for almost a month.

Forced to flee to catch a ferry, the Coupeville High School girls’ tennis team had to leave Thursday’s conference opener at Klahowya knotted at 3-3, with the deciding match locked at 5-5 in the third set.

That match, a #1 singles bout between Wolf Valen Trujillo and Eagle Sydney Jackson, will be decided Apr. 19 when CHS returns to Silverdale for the second of the school’s three matches this season.

The Wolves (0-1) now have two matches sitting unresolved.

They were leading Granite Falls 3-1 when rain brought an early end to their season opener and will pick things up Apr. 22, when they meet to play a second match.

While Coupeville didn’t get closure Thursday, it did get a huge win at #1 doubles, where sophomores Payton Aparicio and Sage Renninger upended an Eagle duo that included one half of last year’s state semifinalists.

Complete (mostly) results:

1st Singles — Valen Trujillo tied with Sydney Jackson 6-7 (0-7), 6-4, 5-5

“This match began at 4:00 and was still going three hours later,” Coupeville coach Ken Stange said. “This is a battle of two contrasting styles. Valen brings power, while Sydney brings consistency.

“I think that when we meet again, Valen will prevail.”

2nd Singles — Bree Daigneault (CHS) beat Lara Hooper 7-5, 6-1

“Bree missed our last match, and she was excited to get out onto the singles court. She did not disappoint.

“It took her a set to find her way, but she really took control in the second set. It was quite impressive.”

3rd Singles — Kenzi LaRue lost to Sophia Kovaleskie 6-2, 6-1

1st Doubles — Sage Renninger/Payton Aparacio beat Shania Rose/Haley Sargent 6-3, 0-6, 7-5

“They’d been looking forward to this match since last year’s league tourney. Rose is a dominant doubles player, and Sage/Payton needed to find ways to keep her from dominating both sides of the court.

“It was easily the most satisfying win of the season for our 1’s, who are now 3-0. It was the kind of win that made the struggles of last season’s 4-9 campaign, at #1 Doubles, worth the trouble.

I could not be more proud of Payton and Sage; they were, as Stuart Scott would have said, cooler than the other side of the pillow!”

2nd Doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Jazmine Franklin (CHS) beat Mary Ann Marker/Maddy Reinks 6-3, 6-2

“3-0 on the season — so dominant — they are picking up where they left off last season, when they went 14-2.

“They will bag many wins for our team at #2 Doubles. On any other team, they’d be the 1’s. Our team is fortunate!”

3rd Doubles — Maggie Crimmins/Kameryn St Onge lost to Taylor Bruce/Emma Lajoie 6-3, 6-3

4th Doubles — Julianne Sem/Julia Borges lost to Desiree Watts/Sarah Ackerman 6-4, 6-0

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Dynamic duo win the day!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , , , on March 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Birthday boys Sebastian Davis (S) and Jacob Smith (J) team up for a collage. (John Fisken and Wendy McCormick photos)

   Birthday boys Sebastian Davis (S) and Jacob Smith (J) team up for a collage full of excitement. (John Fisken and Wendy McCormick photos)

Birthday fever is bouncing around out of control in Coupeville today.

Two of the most energetic of all Wolf athletes — CHS senior Sebastian Davis and sophomore Jacob Smith — share a cake day, and a style of attacking the day, every day.

Regardless of the sport (Davis plays tennis and soccer currently while Smith careens around the gridiron and track oval), the duo are explosive, highly entertaining hard workers.

They’re also exceptionally smart, very outgoing and primed to do big things in the outside world when they step away from Whidbey Island.

Sebastian, who I’ve known since he was a little guy hanging out at Videoville and Miriam’s Espresso, does it all.

The lead in (nearly) every school play, a Science Olympiad whiz kid who could teach the judges a few things and a video game player who ruthlessly defends his sprawling on-line empire against any who would dare to come for his crown, he puts the talent in multi-talented.

I know Jacob primarily from watching him work in the world of athletics, where he comes across as a super-friendly, dedicated guy, the kind of player who still takes the football field when his arm is encased in a cast so he won’t leave his teammates hanging.

Track is where he’s making his biggest splash, with back-to-back PRs in the 100 to kick off the new season.

Both Smith and Davis also show a noticeable flair for school spirit, playing The Joker and Captain Kirk, respectively, on their classes floats during the most recent Homecoming parade.

Jacob turned his hair green for the part, while Sebastian had every one of William Shatner’s tics down cold, and both played to the audience as the parade wound its way around the track at halftime.

As the dynamic duo celebrate their big days (no word on whether they’re sharing cake), we just want to take a moment to wish both of them well.

They are two of the brightest shining lights in this small town, as athletes, scholars and people, and they deserve a big round of applause from us all.

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Scrappy to the final serve!!

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , , on March 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Kenzi LaRue

   Wolf sophomore Kenzi LaRue has made huge strides on the tennis court. (John Fisken photo)

There are days when a loss can almost feel like a win.

Thursday was one of those days for veteran Coupeville High School girls’ tennis coach Ken Stange.

On the road, facing a large 2A school, with out enough players to fill out a full lineup, and with two of those in attendance making their court debut, the scrappy Wolves still almost upended Port Angeles.

While the Roughriders escaped with a 4-3 non-conference win, dropping Coupeville to 0-1 on the season (it leads Granite Falls 3-1 in a match that hangs in limbo until April), the result drew a fairly satisfied “Not bad” from Stange.

CHS was without two of its 12 players, and those two, Sydney Autio and Bree Daigneault, are top-tier players.

That meant the Wolves had to default at third singles, which was the difference in the otherwise tightly-played contest.

Complete results:

1st singles — Valen Trujillo beat Audrey Little 6-3, 6-3

“She was a bit slow to warm up, but Valen shifted into overdrive, outlasting her opponent in rallies that seemed endless,” Stange said. “Consistency + power = victory.”

2nd singles — Kenzi LaRue lost to Maddy Woods 6-0, 6-1

“It was a good effort for Kenzi. She’s an inexperienced JV player who has stepped up to play varsity singles, and she’s done it with grace. She keeps improving, too!”

3rd singles — Coupeville defaulted to Claire Fritchler

1st doubles — Sage Renninger/Payton Aparicio beat Karina Paup/Byrnes 6-3, 6-3

“This pair, after a long ninth grade season playing the same doubles spot, are now in position to dominate almost every opponent. They have found a way to add power while maintaining consistency. Big things await them, if they stay the course.”

2nd doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Jazmine Franklin beat Emily Traugher/Hannah Brown 6-4, 7-5

“They’d be the top doubles team at just about any other school. They went 14-2 last year in the same spot. They were very dominant today, and will likely maintain that dominance all season long.”

3rd doubles — Maggie Crimmins/Kameryn St Onge lost to Summer Olsen/Aeverie Politika 6-1, 7-5

“They put up a good fight against an athletic team. They almost pushed it to a third set. I think they will find their groove soon, and then the wins will come.”

4th doubles — Julianne Sem/Julia Borges lost to Jocelyn Reifenstahl/Paulina Crawford 6-1, 6-0

“It was a tough go for our 4s, but hopefully they’ll find their way soon. It’s not easy joining a team and having to play varsity from day one. It’ll be trial by fire, but I believe they will find their way.”

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Net ace deserves all the cake!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , on March 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lilan Sekigawa nails another winner on the court. (John Fisken photo)

Lilan Sekigawa nails another winner on the court. (John Fisken photo)

He’s one of the true leaders of the pack.

Coupeville High School senior Lilan Sekigawa, who celebrates a birthday today, is a man for all seasons.

On the tennis court, he’s been one of the best Wolf players in recent years, excelling as a doubles ace while also injecting a sly sense of humor into the behind-the-scenes back-and-forth common among netters.

Even on the gloomiest fall day, when one wonders why on Earth they would schedule a tennis match, Sekigawa’s smile lights up the court.

This past season I was at every home match for the Wolf boys (amazing what you can do when you don’t have a “real” job…) and Lilan stood out.

No one else seemed to enjoy their time on the court as much as he did, bouncing around, playfully whacking doubles partner Jimmy Myers with his racket, or quietly cracking jokes.

Off the court, though, he is just as much of a star, a key member of the school’s Science Olympiad squad and a member of the National Honor Society.

As he heads towards graduation, we just want to take a moment to wish him the best.

Today, on his cake day, and every day, as he represents Coupeville with style and class.

Happy birthday, Lilan!

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