Hard-charging Wolf junior Valen Trujillo broke Coupeville High School’s career record for digs Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)
The Wolf spikers celebrate after bouncing Seattle Christian for their first home playoff win since 2004. (Lisa Edlin photo)
The screams of joy coming from the home locker room shook the gym like a small earthquake.
Coupeville High School’s volleyball squad spent most of Tuesday night making history, and when the Wolves finally let loose in celebration, it was comprised of equal parts joy erupting and pent-up frustration being released.
A year after a one-win season, the young CHS spikers (9 of 14 players in uniform were freshmen or sophomores) stomped visiting Seattle Christian for the program’s first home playoff win since 2004.
The 25-18, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20 victory, Coupeville’s fourth in its last five matches, lifts the Wolves to 6-9 and propels them a step further in the district playoffs.
CHS travels to Puyallup Thursday to face Cascade Christian in a second loser-out match. Tip-off time is TBA.
Win there and the Wolves advance to the double-elimination round Nov. 7 in Tacoma. Two of the four teams present that day will earn state tourney berths.
Olympic League champ Klahowya and Nisqually League champ Charles Wright Academy have qualified for the final four.
The winner of the Coupeville/Cascade Christian match gets the Eagles while the winner of a Thursday showdown between Chimacum and Bellevue Christian will face CWA.
The Wolves woke up Tuesday morning not knowing who they would face, which didn’t give them much time to plan, but even less to get nervous.
After swapping the first couple of points with their visitors, Coupeville made their move, riding an epic spike from Emma Smith.
The tall, graceful freshman, inserted into the starting lineup in a bit of a surprise, lived up to the legacy set down by aunt (and former Wolf VB star) Joli Smith, and was a difference maker all night.
Her first kill came with a bang, as she elevated skyward and then lashed a frozen rope that exploded off the end-line and knotted things at 5-5.
Sparked by Smith’s play, the Wolves got hot at the service stripe, with Payton Aparicio and Valen Trujillo going on runs.
Taking advantage of their set-ups, Coupeville stretched the lead out to seven points, then coasted home.
Katrina McGranahan and Kyla Briscoe combined for a key block, rising up in unison to stuff an intended Warrior kill, before Smith dropped back-to-back winners to put the set away.
The first came on a tooth-rattling spike, the second on a tip where she went up, high-fived the ceiling, then used the tips of two fingers to redirect the ball between a pair of Seattle Christian blockers.
The second set was a wild mix of emotions, as Coupeville got red-hot, then went ice-cold, then almost managed to pull out a stunning comeback before falling an inch or two short.
Up 17-12 and cruising, the Wolves had their only real letdown of the night.
A string of errors and mental mistakes squandered the lead away and, in the blink of an eye, Coupeville found itself staring back up at a 24-20 deficit.
Enter the coolest cat in Cow Town, the unflappable Lauren Rose. The stat sheet says she has missed a serve or two in her two-year career, but I have yet to see one.
Pinging the ball from side to side, then down the middle, curving it and making it sing, the Keebler Elf fought off four set points, tied things up at 24-24, then could only watch as her squad promptly gave the set right back to the Warriors.
With the visiting fans sensing a change in mojo and starting to make some noise, the Wolves simply strode to the other side of the court and went back to work.
With big kills from Smith and Tiffany Briscoe, plus a stellar run of tips from Ally Roberts, Coupeville roared out to a 20-9 lead, then refused to let Seattle back in the set.
Not content to play any two sets the same, the Wolves chose to play from behind for much of the fourth set, giving the Warriors a brief glimmer of hope, then stomping it out with glee.
Trailing 18-15, Coupeville went on a 10-2 run to slam the door shut.
McGranahan ripped off back-to-back aces to break the very will of the Warriors, while the Wolves ran down everything in the match’s final moments.
Twice, rallies that looked like they were done, in the favor of Seattle Christian, were saved by sheer hustle and determination.
On one, Hope Lodell sprawled out to knock a rapidly descending ball back up into the air, while on the other, Sydney Autio, her back to the net, managed against all odds to knock a volleyball stuck in the net back into play — without touching the net.
Both plays, and the countless times Trujillo flipped end-over-end to dig balls off the floor at the last second, perfectly symbolized the grit the Wolves brought in their postseason return.
“They bounced back when they needed to,” said a proud CHS coach Breanne Smedley. “They’re realizing that they can do great things, that they are good volleyball players.”
In the midst of the historic win, the Wolves also shattered two records.
Trujillo’s 11 digs carries her to 349 for her career. The Wolf junior has now officially passed Jessica Riddle for the school’s career record, which had stood at 342.
Coupeville knocked down 28 service aces Tuesday, helping the 2015 team shatter an 11-year-old record for most aces in a single season.
The old mark of 201 had stood since 2004, but this year’s squad now has 220.
The Wolves spread around the aces, with Rose (six), Aparicio (five), Lodell (five) and Trujillo (five) leading the way.
Smith and McGranahan had six kills (and two blocks) apiece, while Roberts and Aparicio each tallied five kills.
Autio doled out a team-high 13 assists and Lodell had five digs.
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