La Conner's Ellie Marble is SBLive's WaFd Bank Class 2B Senior Athlete of the Year

Welcome to a continuing tradition at SBLive Washington – honoring the WaFd Bank 2022-23 senior male and female athletes of the year for each classification.

Because the SBLive crew gets so immersed in specific sports seasons, it is nice to take a step back to pick a statewide honor from a broader perspective.

The criteria isn’t too expansive: The starting point is finding seniors who are all-league/all-state performers in two or more sports. Totality of career is also a factor. So is administrator/coach/fan recommendation.

Enjoy as we honor some of Washington’s top multi-sport senior athletes!

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Ellie Marble wasn't born with a volleyball in her tiny grasp, but it wasn't long afterward.

Two years? Six months? Five minutes?

Time was irrelevant. Her destiny at La Conner High School was to become a stalwart in the sport under seven-time state champion and recently-inducted (and retired) WIAA hall of famer Suzanne Marble, also her mother.

The family duo got to share three of those Class 2B titles together - in 2019, 2021 and last November.

And 6-footer Ellie Marble, SBLive WA's Class 2B senior female athlete of the year for 2022-23, will be around it even further. She has signed to play at Central Washington University as an outside hitter starting next fall.

"I was always around it, so I never thought anything different," Ellie Marble said.

The teenager recalled her earliest memories around it, being in the La Conner gymnasium during practices in second grade before she started playing in a Skagit County youth league a year later.

'I would get so excited going to the club tournaments all around the county, and seeing the (high school) girls play out there," Ellie Marble said. "I could not wait to play competitive volleyball."

And yet, she was attracted to other sports during her upbringing - basketball, soccer, track and field and softball.

"That kid just loved every sport that she did, and it didn't matter what it was," Suzanne Marble said.

The older Marble remembers a time when her daughter gravitated toward soccer, but wasn't sure how to proceed bouncing between that and volleyball.

"I said to her, 'You can play both and then you can decide!'" Suzanne Marble said. "But deep down inside, I am like, 'Really? You better be playing volleyball.'"

On her own, Ellie Marble committed to volleyball full-time - and hasn't looked back.

"It's such a fun team sport. And it's just different, I don't know how to explain it," Ellie Marble said.

"I love the highs. You feel pressure in other sports, but tied 25-25 (in a volleyball set) and winning it is such a rush."

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ELLIE MARBLE BIO

School: La Conner.

Sports: Volleyball, basketball.

Next step: Signed to play volleyball at Central Washington University (NCAA D2) where she will study kinesiology or software development (Beta culture).

Senior-year highlights: Voted most valuable player for fourth consecutive season in 2B/1B Northwest volleyball as an outside hitter, totaling 497 kills, 554 digs with a .478 hitting percentage and .942 serving percentage. Was named all-area MVP for a second time by the Skagit Valley Herald. Was voted as 2B player of the year for a third time by the Washington State Coaches Volleyball Association ((WSVCA). As team captain, led Braves to a third consecutive state title, defeating Colfax in the finals. Invitee for postseason WSVCA senior all-state game. ... Voted to 2B/1B Northwest first team in girls basketball as a forward, averaging 21.8 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. Was named to all-area MVP by the Skagit Valley Herald. Was named to SBLive WA all-state first team for 2B. As team captain, led La Conner to fourth-place finish at state tournament and was named to all-tournament team. Invitee for postseason Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association (WSGBCA) senior all-state game.

Career accomplishments: Four-year starter in volleyball and girls basketball and two-year participant in track and field, earning 10 varsity letters. ... Finished with 1,586 kills, 1,569 digs, 228 ace serves and 57 blocks - and a .491 hitting percentage in four seasons of volleyball. Won league title four times, and District 1 title three times. In La Conner's three state championship runs (2019, 2022, 2023), team won 37 of 39 sets played. Two-time selection to AVCA "Phenom" Watch List and SBLive WA's must-see players to watch in state. Three-time WIAA student-athlete of the week selection for volleyball. ... Was all-2B/1B Northwest selection for girls basketball three times - second team as ninth grader in 2020, and first team in 2022 and 2023. Won league title four times, and District 1 title three times. Was twice named to SBLive WA all-state team for 2B (second team in 2022, and first team in 2023). Earned three state trophies - second place in 2020, and fourth place in 2022 and 2023. ... In track and field, was three-time district champion as junior (300-meter hurdles, shot put, 4x200 relay) - and registered two podium finishes at the 2022 Class 1A championships in 4x200 relay (third place) and 300 hurdles (seventh place). ... Played club volleyball for the North Pacific Juniors and Seattle Juniors.

School/community achievements: 3.922 GPA in honors courses; National Honor Society member for four years; besides earning full-ride athletic scholarship to CWU, awarded Joe and Emma Memorial Scholarship, La Conner Booster Club Scholarship, La Conner Foundation Scholarship, La Conner Education Association Scholarship, Soroptimist International La Conner Scholarship and United States Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award; voted class secretary during her ninth grade year, and class vice president during her sophomore and junior years; played saxophone in school's concert band; volunteered to prepare care bags for female domestic-violence victims at Skagit Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services and Oasis Teen Center; volunteered to prepare Christmas candy bags for residents of the La Conner Retirement Inn through her volleyball team; volunteered for clothing drive through Value Village (2021, 2022); volunteered and organized a "VB Dig Pink Night" for two years to raise money ($3,200 total) for Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation; volunteered as youth volleyball and basketball camp coach (2017-22).

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