Knights hand Coupeville its 1st loss / Volleyball

By Jim Waller • October 8, 2019 1:30 am

King’s demonstrated what elite 1A high school volleyball looks like in a 3-0 win at Coupeville Monday, Oct. 7.

The Wolves entered the evening with a perfect 7-0 record but were no match for the Knights, who placed in the top four in the state tournament 13 times since 2001.

King’s won Monday 25-10, 25-7, 25-14.

Coupeville came into the contest having lost only two sets all season.

The Knights set the tone early, dominating the first set by producing 15 kills with no hitting errors and firing seven aces.

Six of Coupeville’s 10 points came from King’s service mistakes.

The remainder of the night followed a similar pattern as Coupeville was forced to scramble on defense, making it difficult to set up an offensive attack.

The Wolves managed only 12 kills, getting three each from Maya Toomey-Stout and Hannah Davidson.

Coupeville relies on its serving as a weapon, but mustered just three aces — two by Toomey-Stout.

Scout Smith finished with nine assists and Toomey-Stout added six digs.

“Our bigs didn’t step up,” Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore said, as the Wolves failed to slow the Knights’ attack.

Adding injury to insult, Coupeville lost one of its top weapons when Chelsea Prescott suffered an ankle injury midway through the first game.

With Prescott out, Whitmore was forced to field a makeshift lineup.

“I thought we adjusted fairly well,” Whitmore said in regard to using players in unfamiliar positions.

Can the Wolves bounce back after suffered a tough loss?

“They are going to have to,” Whitmore said. “We just have to have some people pick it up at practice tomorrow; we’ll start from there.”

The Wolves (3-1, 7-1) complete the first round of North Sound Conference play when they host Sultan (0-3, 3-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, for Cancer Awareness Night.