Coupeville Sports

Kylie Chernikoff brings the thunder of the gods to the volleyball court. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Suzanne Marble has built a dynasty.

Under the leadership of their longtime coach, La Conner High School volleyball is the crème de la crème of 2B teams, with back-to-back state titles and an unbeaten streak in league play which dates back more than a decade.

If you want the Northwest 2B/1B League title, you have to go through the Braves.

And that won’t be easy.

The point was driven home, more than once, as La Conner crunched host Coupeville in straight sets Tuesday, warning a rebuilding Wolf squad it will need to get tougher to come for the big dog.

With a 25-15, 25-7, 25-9 win, La Conner improves to 3-0 on the season, without having dropped a set, while Coupeville slips to 1-1.

The two teams meet again April 29, with the Wolves on the road, and CHS coach Cory Whitmore will aim for his team to play more like it did in set #1 Tuesday than sets #2 and 3.

“We competed in the first set at times and had spent a lot of time on our serving in practice, working on consistency,” he said. “I was happy to have seen that skill improve a lot and translate into the game.”

Consistency, though, is key.

“Throughout the game (Tuesday) we were too flat and unfocused,” Whitmore said. “Those were long points of discussion today at practice.

“We had a strong practice today and addressed some of the growing pains our group has come up against and so we will work to refocus and take a second shot at a very good La Conner team.”

Senior Kylie Chernikoff paced the Wolves, racking up five digs and four kills, while sophomore Maddie Georges dealt out 10 assists.

Others notching numbers on the stat sheet included Chelsea Prescott (six digs, two service aces), Ryanne Knoblich (six digs), Jaimee Masters (five digs), and Maddie Vondrak (four kills).

More support came from Jill Prince (two kills, one block), Lucy Tenore (one kill), and Abby Mulholland (one ace).