Girls' locker room named for coach Marble

She's already in the state coaches' Hall of Fame.

Now Suzanne Marble is having her name affixed to a space closer to home, off the corridors of Landy James Gym, where she has guided the school's storied volleyball program to six state titles in three decades.

The school board voted unanimously to name the gymnasium's women's locker room area after Marble in recognition of her vast impact upon district students and athletes since arriving here in the early 1990s at their Oct. 24 meeting.

A formal naming ceremony, including a ribbon-cutting, was held Friday evening prior to the team's non-conference match with 2A Squalicum of Bellingham. A commemorative plaque honoring Marble will be mounted sometime after the 2022 season concludes, which Lady Braves fans hope will occur only after yet another trip to the state tournament in Yakima.

"As a school district," board President Susie Gardner Deyo said, "we feel the need to recognize coach Marble for her 30 years of service. She has shown a strong and successful dedication to our school and volleyball program. She has represented our school so well and kept La Conner on the map."

Deyo stressed that Marble has distinguished herself far beyond an amazing win-loss record that boasts more than 560 victories – and counting.

"Suzanne has developed more than winning volleyball teams," said Deyo. "She has helped young women grow and go on to great achievements, which ties directly to the district's strategic plan, as our goal is for students to develop academically, socially and emotionally."

Board member John Agen concurred.

"Your athletic accomplishments are incomparable," Agen told Marble, "but the relationships you've built are even more important."

Board member Lynette Cram expressed appreciation to Marble for having served as a role model for two generations of youth.

"I want to thank you for what you do for all our students," Cram said. "We had a daughter who played for you and has gone on to play volleyball in college, and it was here, playing for you, that she made many of her best memories."

Marble deflected attention from herself, crediting longtime assistant coach Pam Keller for much of the program's success, and thanking her husband, Curt, for his steadfast support.

"He took credit for our first state championship," she quipped. "I had been a Liebert and he said I had to become a Marble to win a state title."

Agen said that volleyball under Marble has established a level of excellence rarely seen elsewhere.

"I don't think many schools in the state can match our success in volleyball," he said.

Marble, for her part, isn't one to rest on past laurels, however.

She excused herself and the team from the Thursday meeting when its agenda shifted to other business.

"We're going to head back to practice," she said. "We have another hour or two to put in."