Coupeville Middle School spikers (l to r) Josilyn McColl, Milly Somes, and Reagan Green celebrate a big win. (Ian Somes photo)
Welcome to Thunderdome.
You will know a new middle school volleyball season has started by the sound of 40,000 screaming teenage girls losing their minds with each spike and ace.
Tack on the Island rivalry aspect, with Coupeville playing host to South Whidbey, and the prairie was rockin’ Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, as the Wolves and Cougars battled across nine sets and nearly four hours.
It was a day of two moods, as well, with the visitors claiming the first five sets, before the hosts roared back to win the final four, including a clean sweep in the Level 1 match.
How opening day played out:
Team 3:
Coupeville’s least-experienced squad kicked things off, and showed steady improvement, working through opening day nerves and pushing the Cougars during a 25-7, 25-17, 15-4 loss.
CMS coach Audrey Meek praised “the full team. They showed up and played phenomenal for their first time.”
Lindsey Ashby posted the first big play of the season, popping an ace on her serve, while Annabelle Wold kept rallies alive as the Wolves found their footing.
The middle set featured Coupeville at its strongest, with Zora Worthington making a particular impact.
She punched a winner to snap a South Whidbey run, then came back around with two strong runs at the service line, including delivering an ace that had some nice zing to it.
River Castellanos and Ashby nailed winners as well, with auto racing speed demon Scotlyn Helm anchoring the Wolf defense.
Lily Jacobson, Evelynn McDonald, and Selina Milburn round out the roster for a promising group of newbies.
Team 2:
The middle match was a brawl, with South Whidbey winning the first set 25-16 before narrowly pulling out the second frame 25-23.
Then Coupeville, which held off two match points, rebounded to take the third set 15-11, rousing the home crowd.
Powered by precise serves from Arley Bosler, Mia Goers, and Kolby Johnson, the Wolves jumped out to an early lead, before the teams exchanged body blows en route to a 12-12 tie.
While South Whidbey eventually pulled away to go up one set to none, CMS got stronger as the match played out.
Lilah Grinstead gave the Wolves a boost at the service stripe, while Bosler, AKA “The Hammer,” went on a five-point run — the maximum allowed in middle school — cranking three aces which exploded off of Cougar arms and shot to the back of the gym.
Coupeville led as late as 20-19, and a well-placed drop shot winner from Goers knotted things up at 21-21 before the Cougars slipped away at the very end.
Bosler brought more heat in the third set, ripping off a second five-point service run to spark the Wolves, who led the finale from start to finish.
CMS got contributions from everyone on the floor, with Abby Hunt and Scotlyn Helm chipping into the group effort.
Coach Mandi Black praised her entire team, while hailing Johnson for being “a real leader and a beast at the net,” Goers for “being everywhere,” and Helm for “playing more than anyone today” as she did double duty with Team 2 and 3.
Team 1:
Coupeville’s veterans looked like a well-oiled machine, rolling to a 25-14, 25-17, 15-9 victory.
“The team did fantastic and really implemented what we have taught them,” said CMS coach Elizabeth Mallett.
An early run of success at the service line from Faith Rivers sparked the Wolves to a quick 5-1 lead, and while the Cougars clawed their way back to a 6-6 tie, the momentum soon snapped fully to Coupeville.
Sisters Josilyn McColl and Reagan Green provided big hits at the net, with Reina Rivers, like her own sibling, scorching folks with her serve, setting off the beat-down.
South Whidbey fought valiantly, but Green was too much for the Cougars, sliding across the floor for a save, popping up for a tip winner, and snapping off lethal serves.
Set #2 was more of the same, with Brinn Meek, Milly Somes, Jasmine Allen, and Halle Black all coming up big in support of the sisters.
Coupeville kept the lead at a solid five points or better most of the set, before stretching the margin out more at the end as McColl and Green came bounding along, went airborne, and crunched or flicked winners which landed well out of range of the Cougar hitters.
Making it a clean sweep, the Wolves rode big service runs in set #3 from Green and Black to turn a small early deficit into a relative romp.
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