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She said, “The girls are playing well together. They know they cannot rely on one or two individuals to carry the team. Everyone is stepping up to the challenge and holding her own.” Molitor isn’t making any major changes: “I always set high expectations for the girls and they always come through. We have a more aggressive offense, so we may be working on mixing some new offensive strategies into our game.” She sees the team’s cohesion and experience as its strengths: “The team plays together as one. They support each other when things are going well and when things are challenging. We are well-rounded, obviously have some experience on our side and the girls work really hard.” Molitor expects her team to be “competitive throughout the season, as well as setting high goals for post-season play.” She added, “I am blessed with a wonderful group of girls to work with. We are all looking forward to this season.” Oak Harbor hosts a jamboree today at 9 a.m. and then travels to state 2A power Burlington-Edison at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, for a nonleague match.
OHHS Soccer Oak Harbor returns most of last fall’s lineup
CHS Volleyball Wolves’ attitude, effort help overcome losses The Coupeville High School volleyball team, like all squads, loses players to graduation each year, but the Wolves have taken a hit in another area -- transfers. Three players -- half a lineup -- who would have most likely started for Coupeville this year transferred to other schools over the past two seasons. To compound the problem, a fourth potential starter switched to soccer this fall. How will the Wolves overcome? “Like we usually do, not looking back and talking about what ‘could have been,’ but instead, turning it around to look at it as an opportunity for someone to really step up her game,” said
John Fisken/Whidbey News-Times
Bessie Walstad is one of two returning starters for the Coupeville volleyball team.
Saturday, September 1, 2012 • Whidbey News-Times
John Fisken/Whivey News-Time
Setter Taylor Neinhuis will guide the Oak Harbor offense this fall. head coach Toni Crebbin. She added, “We raise the bar and tell the girls that every day we strive to get better. We have years like last year to look back on, when we succeed when we’re not supposed to, and it encourages the girls that they can do it again.” Although Coupeville returns only two starters, middles senior Bessie Walstad and sophomore Hailey Hammer, and one other letter winner, junior Breeannna Messner, Crebbin expects her club to be competitive in the Cascade Conference: “Our love of the game and heart will get us further than people expect us to…I expect we will be in a close fight to finish top four.” Walstad was an all-league, honorable mention choice in 2011. Some of the holes in the lineup, Crebbin said, will be filled by newcomers Megan Oakes (setter), Madeline Strasburg (outside hitter) and Amanda Fabrizi (defensive specialist). Crebbin said the Wolves’ strength is their attitude and their weakness is lack of experience. She added, “One thing that is both a strength and a weakness is that I have a lot of versatile girls that can play more than one position. That is a strength in that it gives me options and depth, but, on the other hand, I don’t have a lot of girls who really dominate in any one position.” Coupeville takes part in the Oak Harbor jamboree at 9 a.m. today and goes to Cedarcrest at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6. The first home match is Thursday, Sept. 13, with South Whidbey at 7 p.m.
As a young, inexperienced team in 2011, the Oak Harbor High School soccer squad took its lumps in the loss column, now it is ready to rack up some wins. The team (which was 0-13-3 last year) is still young but not inexperienced. Coach Jeff Laiblin said, “We are a young team overall, but we have the right mix of veterans to take this team forward.” The Wildcats return nine letter winners, and only four (Megan Duhrkopf, Jember Jansen, McKenzie Schneider and Anne TePaske) are seniors. Also back are juniors Chelsea Atkinson, Faith Franssen and Kyndra Sherman and sophomores Nalani Gabbert and Hayley Lundstrom. Schneider was a second-team, all-conference performer last fall, and Gabbert was honorable mention. The Wildcats would have had even more returning talent but five varsity players from last fall will not compete this year for a variety of reasons, according to Laiblin. A couple could return from injury in midseason and have the “potential to have a positive impact on the program,” according to Laiblin. “That being said,” Laiblin said, “I feel this is the most talented group of players that I have had, and I feel they are ready to make a run at ending the decade-long drought of no postseason play.” The nine returnees will get help from key newcomers junior Courtney Harrison; sophomores Alyssa Eden, Rebecca Pabona, Makenzie Perry and Lauryn Plush; and freshmen Suzanna Kaltenbach and Ayala Muller. Laiblin said, “We have more players with year-around soccer experience then we had in the last three years combined, thus they are more skilled, quicker. They are stronger because they have been in the weight room.” Lack of depth is a weakness, according to Laiblin, adding, “We have to stay healthy.” He said, “My expectations are that the
ladies will first grow as individuals and as a team as we work to achieve our goal of making the postseason for the first time in over a decade. The talent is here…and if we stay healthy we can achieve that goal.” Oak Harbor starts the season with nonleague matches against Whidbey Island opponents South Whidbey and Coupeville. The Wildcats host South Whidbey at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, and travel to Coupeville at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6.
CHS Soccer Fit Wolves make run at scoring more goals
Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times
A strong senior class, including Anna Bailey, will lift the Wolves this year. Fitness is the goal for the Coupeville High School soccer team, according to first-year coach Dan d’Almeida. And that goal, he hopes, leads to goals. The Wolves struggled to find the back of the net last fall, scoring only three goals in 14 league matches. D’Almeida is implementing a counter-attack offense to help generate more scoring opportunities, but to counter attack, his players have to be in good physical shape. He said, “Our focus in fitness first. From that, we can build a counter attack and play smarter tactically to increase our scoring chances. With more pace and aggressiveness, I’m hopeful that we can put more balls in the net while continuing to make progress on the defensive side of the ball.” Last year’s scoring drought, d’Almeida said, wasn’t “a lack of a striker but because our build-up was limited so we didn’t get the ball in our attacking third nearly often enough.” The Wolves will lean on a talented group of seniors, multi-letter winners forward Kelsey Miranda, defender Anna Bailey, midfielder Amanda d’Almeida and midfielder Haley Marx. D’Almeida, the coach’s daughter, is a two-time all-conference selection.
John Fisken/Whidbey News-Times
Wildcats’ McKenzie Schneider was secondteam all-league in 2011.
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