By Bill Reynolds
La Conner Community News
When she was a student at La Conner High School, Ellie Marble excelled in athletics and was just as exceptional in the classroom.
That hasn’t changed during her three years at Central Washington University.
Sporting a perfect grade point average, Marble this spring earned a bachelor’s degree a year early while playing a key role on the CWU volleyball team, an impressive juggling act that didn’t go unnoticed on the Ellensburg campus.
The 6-0 outside hitter was recognized at June 13 commencement exercises as the university’s 2025-26 Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year.
“Both matter. I care about both,” Marble, a physical education and school health major, insisted when asked about balancing academics and athletics at the collegiate level.
The numbers bear that out. In addition to her flawless 4.0 GPA, Marble filled the volleyball stat sheet from the moment she joined the Wildcat roster as a freshman.
As a first-year college player, in 2023, Marble started 16 matches, recording 156 kills, 136 digs, 21 blocks, 17 service aces, and 13 assists. She followed up with 293 kills, 220 digs, 23 blocks, 20 aces, and 16 assists as a sophomore in 2024.
Marble posted 233 kills, 343 digs, 36 blocks, 27 aces, and 50 assists during the 2025 season, a campaign that saw Central Washington compile a 19-8 overall mark and 14-4 ledger in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
“A personal highlight for me this past season was our match in September with Western (Washington University),” she reflected. “I did pretty good in that one.”
For Marble, “pretty good” is rather an understatement. Marble blitzed Western with 17 kills, 14 digs, three assists, and a trio of blocks in a five-set loss.
“But the highlight for us as a team,” she continued, “had to be our home match in November with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.”
They were on a run, going up 2-0 on us, but then we had a reverse sweep and won it 3-2.
Marble’s parents are Curt and Suzanne Marble of Shelter Bay. Her mom is a retired La Conner teacher and Hall of Fame Braves volleyball coach who guided the high school program here to seven State crowns during a storied 30-year career. Ellie Marble played on three of those title teams (2019, 2021, and 2022), missing out on a fourth championship only because the 2020 State tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But now, with her first college diploma in hand, Marble is already looking to the future. She will return to CWU in the fall to pursue a master’s degree that she hopes leads to a career in collegiate athletics administration.
Marble will also return to the volleyball court for a fourth season, joining a strong nucleus for second-year Wildcat head coach Lauren Herseth.
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
