Playing against the top-ranked team in the state is always a challenge for any high school team.

On Thursday the Coupeville volleyball team hosted King’s High School and despite the Knights winning 3-0 and being the No. 1-ranked Class 1A team in the state, coach Toni Crebbin said the Wolves did a good job and none of them are down on themselves.

“People look at our record and think it’s not very good, but the girls are staying really positive,” she said.

Coupeville is 1-7 in Cascade Conference matches and 2-7 overall.

In the first game, the powerful Knights (9-0) took a 6-1 lead before the Wolves showed they can go head-to-head with any team.

An ace on serve by senior captain Kassie Lawson and a big kill by Linde Maertens shaved the lead to 6-4.

King’s pulled ahead 8-4, but a pair of points on serve by Maertens, including an ace, cut the margin to one point, 8-7.

After that the big hitters on King’s roster, Diona Kirton, Jennifer Dame and Jordan Irish, took over and the Knights won 25-20.

“We’re right there, it’s just a matter of putting everything together,” Crebbin said.

Coupeville held a 4-2 advantage at the beginning of the second game before King’s came back to take the lead.

At one point, the Wolves trailed 20-12 before kills from Kyra Ilyankoff and Maertens narrowed the lead to 20-17.

However, the Knights took charge at the net and won the second game 25-18.

The third game had both teams recording lots of rallies back and forth after King’s opened a 3-0 lead.

The undefeated Knights led 23-10 at one point, before Kelly Snoden brought Coupeville back. The junior outside hitter scored five points on serve to make the count 23-15, but that was as close as the Wolf Pack would get, dropping the third and deciding game 25-15.

“I know and the team knows that they’re building,” Crebbin said. “It all comes down to peaking at the right time and I think we’ll be right in there when we host the district tournament.”

The district tournament is set for Nov. 1.

Coupeville’s plays the next two matches on the road and returns home to play Sultan Monday, Oct. 20.