South Whidbey won the first round of the island rivalry when the Falcons defeated the Coupeville volleyball team 3-1 in a sloppy match on the Wolves’ court Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Although the set scores of 25-23, 25-22, 14-25, and 25-19 might indicate a close match, Coupeville coach Toni Crebbin said, “The games were not as close as the scores showed. We were flat and trailed behind them the whole time.”

Neither team played well, according to Crebbin; unfortunately the Wolves played the worst. She said, “Even though we won game three, it wasn’t so much us being outstanding as them making errors.”

Crebbin cited serving as the biggest bugaboo for Coupeville. “That makes three or four matches in a row that we have had serving problems. Our starting players are consistently missing serves.”

The Wolves are capable of better, Crebbin said, and it’s “just a head thing.”

One bright spot for Coupeville beyond the back line was the serving of substitute Bessie Walstad. The sophomore hit all 14 of her chances, earning two aces.

Although Coupeville scored 89 points, it did not generate much offense, primarily scoring off South Whidbey (2-2) errors, according Crebbin.

Jessica Riddle had six kills and four aces; Kyra Ilyankoff added four kills.

Defensively, Ilyankoff had four stuff blocks and Chelsea Hudgins seven digs.

The Wolves (1-3, 2-3) travel to Granite Falls (2-2) Thursday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.