Concrete crumbles under Braves volleyball

A young team, same old results.

La Conner, a longtime state 2B volleyball powerhouse, swept NW2B/1B net rival Concrete in straight sets at Landy James Gym last Thursday.

The Lady Braves improved to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action ahead of a Saturday road trip to Forks with its 3-0 home victory over Concrete (4-5), a convincing win marked by solid defense, crisp passing and strong hitting.

The final line score was 25-16, 25-10, 25-13 in La Conner's favor.

The triumph helped take the sting out of a prior La Conner league setback to Coupeville, which sported a 5-0 NW2B/1B mark entering this week's play.

Nora McCormick paced the La Conner attack against Concrete with 11 kills and 12 assists.

Maeve McCormick added another seven kills while Abi Poulton (6) and Reese Bird (5) also made their presence felt at the net. As a team, La Conner recorded 32 kills.

Poulton matched her kill total with six digs.

Bird, meanwhile, helped fuel the hosts' offense with a team-high 13 assists.

Libero Addison Keller sparked the La Conner defense with a team-best 30 digs. Her most impressive moment came with La Conner leading 14-7 in the decisive third set.

Near the end of a long rally, Concrete appeared poised to win the point with a hit to the deep right corner. Keller, though, retreated quickly and with her right arm extended was able to keep the ball in play. La Conner ended up winning the point.

Maeve McCormick (23), Addison Wigal (15) and Bird (13) joined Keller with double-digit digs.

Aaliyah Gonzalez chipped in two kills, six digs and a service ace for the winners. Mia Delage and Julia Nelson each recorded a dig.

"It's starting to come together," head coach Pam Keller told the Weekly News afterward, noting that her club, with just one senior, had won its third straight league match.

"We're a young team and don't have a lot of height," Keller said, "but this is an awesome group to coach."

The McCormicks rang up three kills each in the opening set, with Maeve McCormick closing out the frame with an emphatic spike.

La Conner clinched the set with a 7-2 run that included a string of Bird service points and a kill by Poulton.

Maeve McCormick controlled the tempo in the second set with well-placed serves. Bird capped the set with successive kills.

In the third set, La Conner jumped out to a 6-0 lead with Keller serving. Concrete crept back to within 15-10 before the Braves responded with four straight points highlighted by a Nora McCormick service ace.

With La Conner leading 19-12, Maeve McCormick registered a block and kill in the same sequence to thwart a final Concrete comeback bid.

The match ended with a booming spike from Bird that sent a Concrete player sprawling followed by a Maeve McCormick ace.

La Conner, which hosted Mount Vernon Christian on Tuesday, plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Darrington.

Darrington and La Conner have a common opponent in Coupeville, which notched 3-0 victories over both in September. La Conner gets a second shot at the Wolves at home on Oct. 17.