Driven Lady Braves pass crucial league road test

Winning at Darrington is never akin to a spin down Easy Street.

So La Conner High volleyball players fastened their seat belts and braced for speed bumps when they faced the Lady Loggers last week in a key NW2B road test.

And while the hosts controlled the match in spurts, the Lady Braves showed they were in it for the long haul, outlasting Darrington to escape with a hard-fought four-set conference decision.

La Conner broke a 1-1 tie by winning the third and fourth sets by 25-21 and 25-17 margins, respectively.

The Lady Braves had taken the first set 25-19, but faltered in the second session as Darrington rebounded to post a 27-25 verdict.

La Conner literally dug deep to win the final two sets, relying on a gritty defensive effort.

“We had a tough time getting our offense going,” Lady Braves’ head coach Suzanne Marble said afterward. “Darrington got increasingly better as the night wore on, but we played well enough to get the win.”

Heather Henriksen paced the La Conner defense with 26 digs and also delivered a pair of service aces.

She was flawless on 16 attempts from the service line, where the Lady Braves have been strong all season.

Olivia Hedlund got the La Conner attack untracked in the late going, recording 25 assists, most coming during crucial junctures of the match.

Emma Christianson and Kamea Luna posed matchup problems for Darrington at the net, each filling the stat sheet by night’s end.

Christianson commanded the middle with 17 kills and seven blocks, while leading the Lady Braves with 35 passes.

Luna finished with eight kills, five blocks, and five service aces.

La Conner also benefitted from clutch play by Aubrey Swigert, whom Marble inserted into the lineup when the match was deadlocked.

“She was very consistent for us,” Marble said, “by going in and playing solid defense, serving tough, and playing smart at the net.

“I was really proud of the way Aubrey played in a pressure situation,” Marble added.

La Conner used the big win at Darrington as a springboard to last weekend’s Anacortes Invitational Tournament.

La Conner placed second in the tourney to the host Lady Seahawks. The Lady Braves defeated Quilcene and Marysville-Pilchuck while splitting two sets with Overlake in pool play before going on to win two of three matches in the regular tournament bracket.

La Conner’s 17-25, 24-23, 15-8 comeback win over Christian Faith in the best two-of-three tourney format was a definite highlight as far as Marble was concerned.

“It was a great match for us,” she said. “We showed a ton of maturity and composure in coming back to win the match after losing the first set.”

La Conner pushed the Lady Seahawks to three sets before falling 21-25, 25-23, 10-15 in the finale.

The Lady Braves received superb performances up and down the roster at Anacortes, Marble said.

Hedlund dished off 57 assists to go along with 12 aces and 24 digs.

Christianson had 14 kills, 46 digs, and three blocks.

Ashley Watkins contributed nine kills and six aces.

Nicole Henriksen collected 54 digs, while Luna made her presence felt with 13 kills, three blocks, and five aces.

Heather Henriksen served eight aces, totaled 30 digs, and pounded a team-high 16 kills.

Leanne Swan reached double digits in both kills and aces. She rang up 11 kills and added 10 whiffs from behind the service stripe.

“I was really proud,” Marble said, “of the way my team played in the Anacortes tournament. They played some tough volleyball, and we saw a lot of growth. This was a great day for us to see what we need to continue to work on.”

Which isn’t good news at all for La Conner’s future opponents.

Next up for the Lady Braves is league rival Concrete, which visits Landy James Gymnasium tomorrow.

Thursday’s NW2B action is set to get underway at 5 p.m.