The Olympic League leading Coupeville volleyball team put more distance between it and second-place Klahowya with an impressive 3-0 win over the visiting Eagles Tuesday, Oct. 18.
The Wolves, who also defeated Klahowya 3-2 Sept. 27, are now 5-0 in conference play with four matches remaining. The Eagles (3-3, 4-6) dropped into a second-place tie with Chimacum (3-3, 6-7).
Klahowya went undefeated in Olympic League action in 2014 and 2015.
Coupeville showed its resilience in Tuesday’s 25-13, 27-25, 25-18 win.
The Wolves fell behind 3-0 in the first game and recovered to go on 17-3 run to bury the Eagles. Four aces by Payton Aparicio, three aces from Hope Lodell and kills from Aparicio and Emma Smith fueled the run.
Coupeville twice recovered for seven-point deficits (10-3, 19-12) to win the second set.
Aparicio had a kill and four more aces to cut the lead to 12-10, then Katrina McGranahan recorded three kills and Lauren Rose two aces as the Wolves evened the match at 19.
From there it was a seesaw battle.
A kill and tip from Aparicio, a kill from McGranahan and aces from Lodell and Ashley Menges helped Coupeville finish off the set.
The third game was tied at 7, then the Wolves steadily pulled away.
“We did a nice job getting back into the games,” coach Cory Whitmore said. “We fought and chipped away consistently, slowly. When we had to chase, we didn’t freak out.”
Whitmore liked how serving from throughout the lineup kept his team in the match: “Our serving got us ahead in set one, got us back into it in set two and let us stay on top in set three.”
Another strength, he said, was the Wolves’ ability to attack “from more than one angle,” thanks to several potent hitters.
Aparicio had “a huge match,” Whitmore said, with nine aces and six kills. McGranahan collected seven kills, and she and Aparicio both hit an impressive .500.
Lodell had a strong all-around match with nine digs, five aces and four kills.
Menges added 11 assists and four aces, Mikayla Elfrank four kills, Lauren Rose nine assists and Valen Trujillo nine digs.
Coupeville (5-0, 8-3) can clinch the title with a win at Port Townsend (0-5, 2-9) at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20.
The final regular season home match is 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 with Chimacum.
Coupeville will also host of the district finals Nov. 5.
========================
In the first photo below, Lauren Rose serves for the Wolves. (Photo by John Fisken.) In the second photo, the Coupeville volleyball team surrounds John Fisken, who joined them in wearing pink in their Dig for the Cure event to raise awareness for breast cancer. Fisken lost his sister Mary to cancer this past year. The Wolves, left to right, are Sarah Wright, Hope Lodell, Allison Wenzel, Tiffany Briscoe, Emma Smith, Katrina McGranahan, Mikayla Elfrank and Payton Aparicio. (Photo by Diane Fisken.)
