Former Coupeville JV volleyball coach Kristin Bridges (and son) popped in Thursday to watch the Wolves romp to a win. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Wolves (l to r) Maya Toomey-Stout, Emma Smith and Ashley Menges are part of a big-hitting, sweet-serving first-place team.
One win away.
After strolling past visiting Port Townsend in straight sets Thursday, the Coupeville High School volleyball program is super close to doing something it’s never accomplished in its long history — win back-to-back league titles.
Claim victory in just one of their final three conference matches next week, and the Wolves officially clinch the 2017 Olympic League crown, which will sit quite nicely next to the 2016 version.
Of course, Coupeville would prefer to sweep its final three tilts, then roar through districts with an eye on advancing to state for the first time since 2004.
And nothing we’ve seen so far would indicate any reason that can’t happen.
Thursday the Wolves improved to 6-0 in league play, 9-2 overall, using a 25-10, 25-15, 25-16 romp over the RedHawks to open a two-game lead in the standings.
Klahowya (4-2, 5-6) is solidly in second-place while Chimacum (1-5, 1-8) and Port Townsend (1-5, 3-10) are deadlocked for the league’s third and final playoff berth.
But there is little doubt who the hard-hitting, sweet-serving big dog is right now, as the Wolves continue to fire on all cylinders.
Not only has Coupeville won every league match this season, it hasn’t dropped a set, singing its rivals to a merry 18-0 tune. Overall, the Wolves have won 27 of 33 sets.
Facing a tall, and fairly feisty, RedHawk squad, CHS seized the momentum early and never gave it back.
The opening set stayed close, for a bit, with the Wolves clinging to an 8-7 lead and looking for that spark that would light the fire.
It arrived courtesy two players, one a newcomer to the varsity, another a seasoned pro.
Scout Smith, a smooth-hitting sophomore with deceptive power, scrambled and made a brilliant running save on a ball, poking it skyward a moment before the floor claimed it.
Given new life, Coupeville rallied to win the point on a booming spike off of the fingertips of senior Kyla Briscoe.
A key contributor since way back when she was just a raw freshman, Briscoe missed her entire junior season due to a terrible leg injury.
Instead of sulking, she became her team’s biggest cheerleader during their stellar run last year. Now, Briscoe has returned, the skip back in her step, to seize a sizable, and well-deserved chunk of the spotlight.
After pounding the crud out of the ball Thursday, she immediately went on her best service run of the season, spraying winners left, right, and every which way.
By the time she was done — stopped only by an over-eager ref who dinged her for violating a five-second rule on getting your serve in the air which few knew even existed — Briscoe had piled up 10 straight points on her serve.
From 9-7 to 19-7 in the snap of two fingers, and the RedHawks were done, emotionally, mentally and physically.
And, while Briscoe’s serves were crackin’ off elbows and fingers and slammin’ into the hardwood, she got plenty of aid from her hyped-up teammates.
Emma Smith unleashed a spike which peeled paint off the back-line (while scarring the psyche of the RedHawk who tried to stop it), and that was just one point on a non-stop aerial assault.
Payton Aparicio sliced a buzz-saw of a winner cross-court, while Scout Smith owned every inch of the floor.
One moment, she was dancing forward, using just her fingertips to spin a winner in between Port Townsend defenders.
The next, Scoutosaurus Rex scaled a stairway to heaven, then unleashed holy heck with a put-away which went from right to left, hitting the court like a grenade and spraying shrapnel in every direction as the ball skidded into the fifth row of seats.
All of that was the opening act for Mikayla Elfrank, who capped the first set with a spike which erupted from her fist with a sonic boom and left a crater where it landed just inside the end-line.
Port Townsend managed to keep some rallies going, but had little answer for Coupeville’s raw power, either from the service line or on the finishing kills.
Long service runs from Ashley Menges, Katrina McGranahan, Aparicio and (her again!) Briscoe kept the Redhawks back on their toes, while Elfrank’s burning desire to break some faces with each kill kept them wide awake.
In between their rain of terror, the Wolves mixed things up with some subtle, elegant winners, as well.
Emma Smith dropped in tips for winners on back-to-back plays, freezing the Port Townsend defense in place, while Menges continues to be the master of the fake-out.
The Wolf play-maker has perfected a play on which she makes everyone, including often times her own teammates, think she’s about to loft a set. Then, at the very last second, her fingers curve to the side, instead, sending the ball skidding over the net on a tip.
It’s a subtle thriller and an ice-cold killer, and it leaves its victims grasping at air, as the ball, which has arrived by surprise, plops neatly to the floor for another Coupeville point.
Seeing his team mesh together so well, with everyone stepping up at a different moment, puts a smile on Wolf coach Cory Whitmore’s face.
“I like to see a nice balance, and that’s what we’re getting,” he said. “We’ve been stressing communication and everyone doing their own little job at the right time.”
The Wolves filled up the stat sheet, with Briscoe dropping five service aces, pounding four kills and going low for five digs.
Aparicio and Scout Smith led CHS with six kills apiece, while Elfrank and Emma Smith each added five.
Whitmore was thrilled to see balance from his front-line players, while also giving a special nod of approval to Emma Smith.
Since she patrols the middle, the junior standout doesn’t get as many kill chances as the snipers playing on either side, but she worked with what came her way.
“Emma really took advantage of her opportunities,” Whitmore said. “That is awesome!”
Coupeville’s setters doled out 21 assists, with Lauren Rose lofting 13 and Menges eight, while senior libero Hope Lodell paced the squad with 12 digs.
McGranahan (4), Aparicio (4) and Rose (3) joined Briscoe as Wolves racking up service aces.
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