EDMONDS — The Shorewood volleyball team was forced to start the season without senior setter Sidra Thorkildsen, who transferred from Bishop Blanchet, until she was determined eligible by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
Without her, the Thunderbirds were forced to play players at unnatural positions and lost their first four matches.
Since her debut, they haven’t lost.
Thorkildsen helped Shorewood to its ninth consecutive victory on Thursday, a 3-0 sweep over Edmonds-Woodway, which was tied with the Thunderbirds for first place coming into the match.
“As soon as (Thorkildsen) was cleared, it was just the missing piece,” Shorewood head coach Jennifer Chartrand said. “We were able to put people back into the spots where they were comfortable and where they belong. Now things are just kind of falling in place for us.”
Thorkildsen finished with 32 assists, eight digs and one block against Edmonds-Woodway.
Most of Thorkildsen’s assists came to a dominating frontline featuring juniors Delaney Hopen and Elli Allen-Hatch and sophomore Taryn Shelley.
Hopen led the Thunderbirds with 18 kills, 10 digs and one block, Allen-Hatch finished with 11 kills and eight digs and Shelley had seven kills.
“The girls are letting each other know when they go up to hit that ball what’s open,” Chartrand said. “We’re finally responding to that. Instead of being intimidated by the voices behind them, they’re learning that they’re helping each other and I think that is something that we haven’t had before, so I think all of the pieces are coming together at the right time.”
Hopen has been nursing a foot injury for much of the season, but didn’t look injured on Thursday. Several of her kills at the net drew reaction from the crowd because of the speed with which that ball was hit. Many of them weren’t returned.
“Tonight, I feel like we can actually say that she’s back,” Chartrand said. “This is the best I’ve seen her in a few weeks.
“I’ve coached her since eighth grade — and in eighth grade she was like no player I had ever seen. She’s been a huge tool on varsity since she was a freshman. She’s very court-aware and she’s smart. The older she gets, her leadership role is just calming her down as a player.”
Shorewood jumped in front in the first set and cruised to an eight-point win. In the second set they never trailed and ultimately won by nine. The third set was more competitive, but again the Thunderbirds pulled away down the stretch and won by eight, sweeping the match.
“We weren’t ever really chasing a lead,” Chartrand said. “That’s really important for them, especially in a match like this because I think it’s such a confidence booster.”
The lopsided nature of the match was somewhat of a surprise given that the two teams came in with identical league records. Edmonds-Woodway head coach Nicole Bordeaux said her team just had an off night.
“I don’t know if there was anything specifically with Shorewood,” she said. “I think we just didn’t play our game and up to our potential the way we had been playing in the last several matches. We didn’t give them a fight.”
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Warriors and was just their third loss of the season.
“It’s been a while since our team has lost, so I think we’re ready to take this as a learning experience and just push and finish our season strong and start focusing on districts because that’s ahead,” Bordeaux said.
The Thunderbirds are closing in on the top seed going into the 3A District 1 tournament, which both they and the Warriors have already qualified for.
“I feel like we’re often the underdogs and my girls have worked really hard,” Chartrand said. “I’m just so proud of them. They’re doing this together as a team and they’re all contributing.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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