By Bill Reynolds
La Conner Community News
Winning never gets old with the La Conner High volleyball team — especially this season, when the Braves sported one of their youngest lineups ever.
To that end, the 2026 La Conner spikers — with no seniors on the roster and eighth graders filling key roles — battled Nov. 5 for more than three hours and through two loser-out Bi-District matches at Landy James Gym to secure the latest in the program’s long list of state tournament berths.
Facing elimination in back-to-back tests, the Braves defeated Auburn Adventist in straight sets and followed up with a 3-1 triumph over Friday Harbor, clinching yet another trip to the Yakima SunDome and state Class 2B trials where La Conner has brought home championship trophies seven times.
The two-day state tournament is scheduled to start Wednesday. The Braves, 13-12 on the season, will face second-seeded Onalaska (16-1) at 9:45 a.m.
“I’m so proud of how hard this young team played and truly came together this season,” Braves head coach Pam Keller said after the matches last week.
La Conner, as borne out by the final line score in the Friday Harbor match, played stronger as the night’s action approached and then passed the three-hour mark.
La Conner prevailed 25-17, 20-25, 25-17, 25-8 over the islanders. The Braves had earlier swept Auburn Adventist 25-22, 25-13, 25-9.
Against a taller and veteran Friday Harbor squad, La Conner benefited from several strong individual performances. Six Braves delivered kills, led by the Bird sisters, each of whom finished in double digits.
Reese Bird, a junior, paced La Conner with 11 kills. Freshman Rory Bird added another 10.
Nora McCormick, a junior, delivered seven kills. Eighth graders Faith Kowalcyk (5) and Nellie Mueller (3) combined for eight kills.
Kowalcyk fueled the Braves attack with a match-high 24 assists.
A major factor in the win was La Conner’s work at the service stripe. The Braves controlled the match’s tempo with 14 aces. Reese Bird collected a team-best four aces. McCormick and sophomore Mia Delage produced three aces apiece while Kowalcyk and Rory Bird tallied two each.
Defensively, five La Conner players combined for 10 digs, led by Rory Bird with three.
La Conner was repeatedly able to extend rallies to the point where Friday Harbor gave away points with unforced errors.
The match turned when the Braves rebounded from a second set loss to reel off the first eight points of the third frame, an eventual 25-17 La Conner victory.
The decisive 8-0 Braves run featured kills by Reese and Rory Bird and three Friday Harbor miscues.
There was little drama in the match with Auburn Adventist, other than a spirited first set comeback bid by the visitors. La Conner, which led 18-8 at one point, held on for a 25-22 triumph, thanks in great measure to Kowalcyk’s serving in the late going.
McCormick racked up a team-best eight kills for La Conner and Reese Bird recorded a pair of blocks at the net.
Mount Vernon Christian (15-1) goes to Yakima as the Bi-District top entry. La Conner, which won three of four Bi-District clashes across four days — losing only to MVC — arrives in Yakima as this area’s second seed.
