Net gains: Tough slate provides early dividends

For the La Conner High volleyball team, it’s a simple matter of reward outweighing risk.

Putting themselves on the line — and at the net — against larger school foes in non-league matches runs the risk of suffering deflating early losses.

But the reward of character-building tests — win or lose — is just too great for Lady Braves head coach Suzanne Marble to pass up.

“We like to push our girls by playing a tough non-league schedule,” she said Sunday.

By then, the Lady Braves had swept both 4A Woodinville and 3A Squalicum at home, and fared quite nicely in a tough regional jamboree at Burlington.

La Conner defeated Woodinville 25-16, 25-12, 25-12 in its home opener last Tuesday. The Lady Braves bested Squalicum in three sets — 25-12, 25-15, 25-13 — at Landy James Gym two nights later.

Sandwiched in-between were jamboree triumphs over Sedro-Woolley, Lynden, and Lynden Christian and single set defeats to Burlington-Edison and Ferndale, all on Wednesday.

A challenging first week should put La Conner in good stead when the Lady Braves visit Anacortes today, Sept. 16, sail to Orcas tomorrow, and take part in the Yakima Sun Dome Festival Tournament this weekend.

“We’ll definitely be tested again,” said Marble, whose charges passed their first trials with flying colors.

La Conner overcame a sluggish start against Woodinville to record an impressive win in its 2015 debut.

Trailing 8-3, the Lady Braves forced a 14-14 deadlock and then took control first of the set and then the entire match.

Senior setter Olivia Hedlund ignited the La Conner attack, dishing out 29 assists while placing all 28 of her serves, two of which were aces. She also finished with nine digs.

“Olivia did a nice job mixing up her offense,” Marble said. “As the game went on, Olivia’s confidence grew, as did that of her hitters.”

A case in point was Ashley Watkins, who logged 12 kills and matched Hedlund with nine digs.

“Ashley was our gun,” said Marble. “She and Olivia really connected well.”

Lindsay Lowry added seven kills, while Kamea Luna chipped in another five to go along with a key block.

Heather Henriksen delivered a pair of aces while going 14-of-14 from the service stripe. She also notched five kills and 16 digs.

Nicole Henriksen led La Conner defensively with 21 digs and was near flawless on service receipt, while placing 15 serves of her own without a miss.

There was little drama in the Squalicum match.

“The Storm could never really catch a break against us,” Marble said. “Our girls came out relaxed and ready to play.”

La Conner controlled the match from the service line.

“We were 94 percent serving,” said Marble, “which is great to see this early in the season.”

Hedlund was 22-of-2 on serves, including a pair of aces. She filled the stat sheet with 24 assists, eight digs, and four kills.

“Once again,” Marble said, “Olivia mixed up her offense and then became an offensive threat herself.”

Luna collected 12 kills, seven digs, and two blocks.

Watkins tallied nine digs and seven kills, with Lowry pitching in a half dozen kills.

Leanne Swan contributed four kills and an ace.

Nicole Henriksen paced the Lady Braves with 14 digs. Heather Henriksen added another 12 digs to go along with four kills.

La Conner clearly benefited from having played in the Burlington jamboree the previous night.

“It was a great two hours of competitive volleyball to see what we needed to work on,” said Marble.

The Lady Braves proved quick studies, applying lessons learned against Squalicum to round out the week.

“The girls played three solid nights of volleyball against strong opponents,” Marble said.

She would like nothing better than for that pattern to repeat itself this week.