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Posts Tagged ‘volleyball’

Twice the birthday fun with Willow (16) and Raven Vick.

   Twice the birthday fun with Willow (16/27) and Raven (19) Vick. (John Fisken, Maria Reyes and Pat Kelley photos)

Class.

That’s the first word which comes to mind when we discuss Willow and Raven Vick.

Then we can start checking off words like smart, friendly, easy-going, self-contained, kind, loyal, hard-working … and, if we keep on going, we’ll be here for days.

Suffice it to say that the Vicks, who celebrate a joint birthday today, have already made a strong impact  and they’re only freshmen at Coupeville High School.

They first popped on the radar as middle school athletes, running track, playing volleyball, and in Willow’s case, making a solid debut as a softball player for a Venom squad which throttled opponents.

Then the duo made the jump to high school this season and immediately made names for themselves as spikers.

Both brought considerable skill to the floor — whether it was Raven lashing service winners or Willow lunging to save balls and keep plays alive — and were key parts of a Wolf JV squad which went undefeated in league play.

What I know of both young women largely comes from watching them play sports, and it has been nothing less than positive.

If they are serial killers or drug runners in their day-to-day lives, they hide it well.

On the court, and before and after games, they come across as hyper-intelligent, well-spoken young women on the fast track to great future success.

They obviously have an unspoken connection with each other, being sisters and twins at that, but they also are quick to support others, in good times and bad, and seem, from the view in the bleachers, to be ideal teammates.

As they hit the big 1-5, I just want to take a moment to wish Raven and Willow all the best on their cake day.

I look forward to seeing where the two of you go in the years to come, as athletes and as brilliant young women.

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Kyla Briscoe (John Fisken photos)

   Kyla Briscoe spent much of the season on crutches, but her pluck, spirit and positive attitude won her an award Thursday night. (John Fisken photos)

Peytin Vondrak was hailed as the JV team's Most Improved.

Peytin Vondrak was hailed as the JV team’s Most Improved.

Valen Trujillo capped her record-setting career by being named varsity MVP.

Valen Trujillo capped her record-setting career by being named varsity MVP.

Kyla Briscoe never gave up, and her coaches noticed.

An off-season injury wiped away her volleyball season before it began, but the Coupeville High School junior, a two-year letter winner, was there with her squad every step of the way.

Briscoe’s dedication and hard work behind the scenes earned her the inaugural Spirit of a Wolf award bestowed by first-year CHS coach Cory Whitmore.

The award, given at a season-ending banquet Thursday, honors “a player that exemplifies what it means to be a Wolf – hard work, dedication, humility, service to the team ahead of themselves.”

Among the varsity players who were able to play during the program’s best season since 2004, senior Valen Trujillo took home MVP, while Lauren Rose was tabbed Most Inspirational and Sarah Wright claimed Most Improved.

Hannah Davidson (MVP), Maya Toomey-Stout (Most Inspirational) and Peytin Vondrak (Most Improved) took home JV honors.

Playing for coaches Kristin Bridges and Ashley Herndon, the young guns went a flawless 9-0 in 1A Olympic League play.

Tiffany Briscoe, Ally Roberts and Trujillo were honored for playing through all four years of high school, while Briscoe, Trujillo and Rose were captains.

Kailey Kellner received praise for her tireless work as team manager, as well.

Letter winners:

Payton Aparicio
Tiffany Briscoe
Mikayla Elfrank
Hope Lodell
Katrina McGranahan
Ashley Menges
Ally Roberts
Lauren Rose
Emma Smith
Valen Trujillo

Certificates of Participation:

Hannah Davidson
Maddy Hilkey
Nicole Lester
Emma Mathusek
Jillian Mayne
Lucy Sandahl
Scout Smith
Maya Toomey-Stout
Zoe Trujillo
Raven Vick
Willow Vick
Peytin Vondrak
Melia Welling
Allison Wenzel
Sarah Wright

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Your 1A Olympic League volleyball MVP, Katrina McGranahan. (John Fisken photo)

   Your 1A Olympic League volleyball MVP, Katrina McGranahan. (John Fisken photos)

Cory Whitmore

It took Cory Whitmore a single season to be named Coach of the Year.

Every time Katrina McGranahan hit the volleyball this season, it exploded.

Mixing power at the net, where she led Coupeville in kills for the second straight year, and at the service stripe, where she was one of the best servers in the state, the Wolf junior was fury unleashed.

And now, after helping lead the CHS spikers to their best season since 2004, McGranahan has been rewarded, being named the 1A Olympic League MVP.

She was one of five Wolves hailed by league coaches Wednesday, with Cory Whitmore being tabbed Coach of the Year and teammates Hope Lodell and Valen Trujillo earning First Team All-League honors.

Lauren Rose was also tabbed as an Honorable Mention pick.

The future looks bright for Coupeville, as well, as the league champs were the only school to have a non-senior honored in the first group.

McGranahan, who threw down 91 kills, 14 blocks, 134 service points and 62 aces and Lodell, who notched 75 kills, 137 digs, 187 service points and 110 aces, are juniors.

Trujillo closed her career with 195 digs (giving her a school record 550), 348 service returns, 35 aces and 94 service points.

Rose, a junior setter, recorded 192 assists and garnered 132 service points and 35 aces with a team-best 92.7% serving percentage.

The Wolves went 11-6 overall, 8-1 in league play under Whitmore, who is in his first season as head coach.

The complete list of winners:

Coach of the Year: Cory Whitmore, Coupeville

Team Sportsmanship: Chimacum

Most Valuable Player: Katrina McGranahan, Jr., Coupeville

Defensive MVP: Nicole Mills, Sr., Klahowya

1st Team All-League:

Valen Trujillo, Sr., Coupeville

Hope Lodell, Jr., Coupeville

Jessica Carlson, Sr., Klahowya

Ashley Sharp, Sr., Klahowya

Taylor Carthaum, Sr., Chimacum

Shanya Nisbet, Sr., Chimacum

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Tiffany Briscoe (John Fisken photos)

   Coupeville senior Tiffany Briscoe etched her name in 8 of 11 stat categories in 2016. (John Fisken photos)

Katrina McGranahan

   Junior Katrina McGranahan was second on the Wolves in service points, aces and blocks and first in kills.

Hope Lodell finished #1, at least for the moment.

Adding 12 service aces during the district tourney Saturday, the Coupeville High School junior finished with a school single-season record of 110.

Those aces, by themselves, are more than any other Wolf player has had in their entire CAREER.

Lodell’s two-year total of 141 aces (she had 31 as a sophomore) sends her skyrocketing past former CHS career record holder Mindy Horr, who compiled 109.

Fellow junior Katrina McGranahan is in the on-deck circle to pass Horr, as well.

With 62 aces this year, she sits at an even 100 heading into her final season.

The 110 aces this season puts Lodell #1 across all divisions in Washington state (2B-4A), at least in terms of those who have reported stats to MaxPreps through Tuesday morning.

Coupeville, which had four players (Lodell, McGranahan, Payton Aparicio and Ashley Menges) land in the top 10 for aces by 1A players, destroyed the team single-season mark.

The Wolves launched 327 aces, easily topping last year’s mark of 201.

Looking at the final stats, several players made runs during the final weekend, with Emma Smith and McGranahan, in particular, surging in several categories.

Allison Wenzel also took advantage of what playing time was given her, accumulating her first serving stats of the season in the crucible of the playoffs.

Senior Valen Trujillo capped a remarkable run, pushing her school career record for digs to 550.

The final season-to-date stats for the Wolf spikers, who at 11-6, had their best season since 2004:

Sets Played:

Katrina McGranahan 63
Ashley Menges 63
Lauren Rose 63
Emma Smith 63
Valen Trujillo 63
Payton Aparicio 62
Hope Lodell 61
Tiffany Briscoe 60
Mikayla Elfrank 58
Ally Roberts 47
Sarah Wright 12
Allison Wenzel 7
Maddy Hilkey 1
Scout Smith 1

Kills:

McGranahan 91 (#16 in 1A)
Elfrank 77 (#19 in 1A)
Lodell 75
E. Smith 52
Aparicio 47
Briscoe 41
Wright 16
Roberts 9
Wenzel 5
Trujillo 4
Menges 2
Rose 2

Kill Percentage:

Menges 66.7
E. Smith 39.4
Wright 38.1
McGranahan 35.5
Elfrank 35.3
Roberts 33.3
Lodell 31.0
Wenzel 29.4
Briscoe 27.2
Aparicio 24.4
Rose 22.2
Trujillo 18.2

Hitting Percentage:

Menges .333
Wenzel .235
Wright .214
McGranahan .160
E. Smith .144
Roberts .111
Briscoe .073
Elfrank .023

Digs:

Trujillo 195 (#7 in 1A)
Lodell 137 (#14 in 1A)
Aparicio 70
Rose 47
Roberts 45
McGranahan 27
Menges 18
Briscoe 13
Elfrank 10
E. Smith 10
Wenzel 6
Wright 3

Blocks:

E. Smith 17
McGranahan 14
Elfrank 7
Aparicio 3
Wright 3
Briscoe 1
Lodell 1

Service Returns:

Trujillo 348
Lodell 239
Aparicio 145
Roberts 64
Wenzel 12
Briscoe 4
McGranahan 4
E. Smith 4
Elfrank 3
Menges 3
Rose 2
Wright 1

Assists:

Rose 192 (#11 in 1A)
Menges 148 (#12 in 1A)
Trujillo 6
Lodell 4
Roberts 4
Briscoe 3
Aparicio 2
McGranahan 2
Elfrank 1
Wright 1

Serving Percentage:

Elfrank 100.0
Rose 92.7
Trujillo 91.4
Aparicio 86.0
Lodell 83.8
McGranahan 82.9
Menges 81.9
Wenzel 80.0
Roberts 40.0

Service Points:

Lodell 187
McGranahan 134
Rose 132
Menges 116
Aparicio 102
Trujillo 94
Elfrank 3
Wenzel 3
Roberts 2

Service Aces:

Lodell 110 (#1 across all divisions in state)
McGranahan 62 (#3 in 1A, #17 in all divisions)
Aparicio 52 (#7 in 1A)
Menges 46 (#10 in 1A)
Rose 35 (#19 in 1A)
Trujillo 35 (#19 in 1A)
Elfrank 1
Wenzel 1

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Emma Smith

   The last second before a once-happy volleyball discovered the true meaning of pain, thanks to the ferocious Emma Smith. (John Fisken photos)

Valen Trujillo

   Ally Roberts (left) and Hope Lodell (right) flank Valen Trujillo as she goes low for the 22,709th return of her stellar career.

bench

   The Wolf bench, caught up in the back-and-forth of a five-set thriller with Klahowya in a jam-packed CMS gym.

Lauren Rose

Trujillo and Lauren Rose, warriors and friends.

Tiffany

Tiffany Briscoe drops the boom on Charles Wright Academy.

payton

Payton Aparicio’s fan club shows the Wolf ace some love.

Mikayla Elfrank

Mikayla Elfrank gets artful, nimbly firing a winner between two Tarriers.

team

One team, one dream.

They went out with a bang.

Having put together the best season by a Coupeville High School volleyball team since 2004, the Wolf spikers fought until the final point Saturday at districts.

Along for the ride, camera in hand and hopping back and forth between gyms, was local paparazzi John Fisken, who delivers us the pics above.

To see more (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes), pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/VB-20161105-Coupeville-Distric/

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