“We were focusing on our focus,” Coupeville High School volleyball coach Cory Whitmore said after his Wolves drubbed visiting Port Townsend 3-0 Thursday, Sept. 29.

Coupeville cruised to a 25-11, 25-12, 25-8 win.

Whitmore was concerned that his club wouldn’t be mentally sharp after coming off an emotional 3-2 win over Klahowya earlier in the week and then having to face a less-talented Port Townsend team.

“We needed to prove to the home crowd that our win at Klahowya wasn’t a fluke,” Whitmore said.

There was no letdown.

“We talk about managing the pace of the game,” Whitmore said. “When our pace drops down, we make mistakes. We try to avoid peaks and valleys.”

In addition to his team’s focus, he was happy with its energy and the contributions of substitutes Allison Wenzel and Sarah Wright (“They have worked really hard in practice.”).

Another positive, according to Whitmore, was the balance in the Wolves’ attack even though they were missing kill leader Mikayla Elfrank, who missed the match because of a family commitment. Four players had four or more kills: Katrina McGranahan, five; Ally Roberts, four; Emma Smith, four; Wright, four.

Hope Lodell finished with eight aces and Payton Aparicio had six.

Lauren Rose dished out 13 assists and Ashley Menges six.

Valen Trujillo led the defense with six digs.

The Wolves led by only one, 8-7, early in the first set, then the offense took off. Lodell led the surge with three kills and two aces; Roberts chipped in with a pair of kills.

The second game followed a similar pattern. Coupeville led only 11-9 before a fast finish. Lodell got things rolling with five aces in six serves.

Coupeville raced to a 15-1 lead in the third set. Four times the Redhawks misplaced passes just over the net, and middle McGranahan drilled them back for kills. That helped make it 7-1.

Aparicio took over on the service line and fired six aces in eight serves to push the score to 15-1.

Coupeville (3-0, 5-2) goes to Chimacum (1-2, 3-4) at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4.

======================

Lauren Rose back sets to Ally Roberts. Photo by John Fisken.