Volleyball wins league opener last Thursday

The La Conner High School volleyball team split a pair of matches last week but literally won the one that counted.

The defending state 2B net champs were edged in three sets at 1A Nooksack Valley Sept. 20 before sweeping Friday Harbor on San Juan Island in La Conner’s NW2B/1B debut on Thursday, Sept. 22.

The Lady Braves (3-1), who typically play a challenging non-conference schedule, had earlier defeated 2A Anacortes and Sehome at home.

“Nooksack is a very solid team,” La Conner head coach Marble said after the team’s 22-25, 19-25, 23-25 setback in Everson. “We had a difficult time on defense due to Nooksack’s strong offense.”

Nooksack was able to offset a brilliant outing from La Conner senior outside hitter Ellie Marble, who finished with 20 kills, 34 digs and 21 of 21 on serve receive.

Setter Abby Udlock fueled the Lady Braves attack with 24 assists. Morgan Huizenga joined Marble in double-digit kills with 10.

Coach Marble said the Nooksack match could benefit La Conner going forward.

“We will continue to improve and learn from our tough matches as we head into our league matches,” she vowed.

That assessment proved prophetic.

La Conner blasted Friday Harbor less than 48 hours later with an impressive straight-sets (25-0, 25-6, 25-7) victory.

The victors set the tone at the service stripe. La Conner served at a 98% clip, with Huizenga flawless on 30 attempts, 25 of which came in the opening set. She paced the Lady Braves with nine aces.

Ellie Marble added eight service aces to go with 15 kills and 14 digs.

Middle blocker Makayla Herrera was strong at the net with seven kills.

La Conner, which entertained rival Concrete last night, resumes its NW2B/1B slate tomorrow, Sept. 29 with a 5:30 p.m. home match opposite Coupeville.

The Lady Braves go back on the road this weekend with matches in Eastern Washington in Chelan on Friday and Manson on Saturday.

The Braves soccer team moved to 2-5 on the campaign by splitting a pair of matches. La Conner blanked Coupeville at home 1-0 on Sept. 20 before falling 3-0 at Mount Vernon Christian on Thursday.