Volleyball team nearly flawless in big school tournament

The two-time defending state 2B volleyball team brought its ‘A’ game to Burlington Saturday.

La Conner High School, benefiting from superb serving, strong net play and crisp defense, won 11 of 12 sets in pool play and split two matches in the main bracket against teams from larger schools competing at the annual Burlington-Edison Invitational Tournament.

La Conner defeated Lynden Christian 25-19, 25-17, 28-26, edged Washington High 25-20, 25-21, 16-25, swept North Kitsap 25-22, 25-12, 25-18 and prevailed over Meridian 25-22, 25-12, 25-18 in pool action.

The Lady Braves then downed Lynden 25-22, 27-25 before dropping two of three sets (25-16, 20-25, 10-15) to 2A Steilacoom.

“It was such a great day for us to play great competition from around the state,” La Conner head coach Suzanne Marble told the Weekly News afterward. “We were able to play a ton of volleyball and get more tournament experience.”

For La Conner, it was a case of Mission Accomplished entering a week highlighted by tonight’s (Wednesday’s) 6:30 p.m. Dig Pink-Senior Match at home with 1A Nooksack Valley and a Thursday non-conference test at 2A Burlington-Edison at 7 p.m.

Depth was a key factor in La Conner’s success on Saturday as seven Lady Braves players filled the stat sheet.

Ellie Marble totaled 125 kills, 134 digs, served at 95 per cent and went 94 per cent on serve receive.

Emma Keller logged 188 assists and accounted for 62 digs.

Rachel Cram had 137 digs and delivered on 93 per cent of her serves.

Sarah Cook finished with 76 kills, 143 digs and was 96 per cent at the service stripe.

Morgan Huizenga added to La Conner’s impressive serving performance with a 94 per cent effort.

Makayla Herrera notched 43 kills and 18 blocks.

That wasn’t all, coach Marble said.

“Hannah Cook,” she said, “came in and was clutch from the service line.”

Marble sees her team peaking at the right time with post-season play just around the corner.

“I was very proud of the way my team played (in the Burlington tournament) and how they pushed themselves to get better as a team in every set,” she said. “This was great competition heading into our last week of the regular season.”