For the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors, Thursday’s District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament loser-out match against the Lynnwood Royals was a chance for redemption after a tough loss in their last outing. For the Royals, Thursday’s tourney match presented an opportunity to extend their goal-achieving 2019 season yet another day.

In the end it was Edmonds-Woodway that got what it wanted as the Warriors overpowered the shorter Royals 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

With the victory, the district tourney No. 4 seed Warriors shook off what remained from a loss to Ferndale earlier in the week and will next play on Saturday, Nov. 16, in another district tournament loser-out match. For the Royals, their 2019 campaign has now come to an end.

E-W’s middle blocker Grace Lewis said the straight-set victory over No. 9 seed Lynnwood was a big confidence booster for her Warrior team.

“It feels really awesome, especially coming from the loss on Tuesday,” Lewis said. “We were kind of down on ourselves yesterday (Wednesday) … But I think we came out much harder than we did on Tuesday and much harder than we did when played Lynnwood (earlier) this season. And I could tell everyone on our team really wanted it and I think that really drove us to take it to only three sets.”

Lewis was a key member of the Warriors’ front line that dominated play at the net on Thursday. The senior had a number of key blocks and kills in the win, including a block and a kill on consecutive points to close out the second set.

Lewis moved into the middle blocker role for E-W halfway through this season and believes the change was beneficial for her game.

“I’ve changed positions a lot this season,” Lewis explained. “I used to play outside and at the beginning of the season I was kind of switching between outside and right side and middle. But I really like playing in the middle because I get to be a lot more aggressive and on the ball; and I think it’s been a good switch for me.”

Lynnwood Coach Annalise Mudaliar conceded that her squad was overmatched on the front line on Thursday, a story that played out often for the Royals this year. But the team hung with the bigger Warriors throughout the match, even leading at times in each of the three sets.

“We live or die by our defense because we are a short team, undersized, going up against a well-coached and great athletically-talented Edmonds-Woodway team,” Mudaliar said. “But we stayed in it by playing great defense.”

“They have a great front line, they hit hard,” Mudaliar continued about the Warriors. “Rallies were long and we’d get every ball up. We played great defense but you have to be able to terminate points in order to come out on top. And that’s just what we couldn’t do today.”

Despite Thursday’s loss, Mudaliar was pleased with how the season stacked up as a whole for her Royals’ squad and said she would most remember the spirit and tenacity that the team displayed throughout the year.

“From this season, what I would say is heart,” Mudaliar concluded. “We have a lot of new girls on varsity that made it the goal to make it to districts — and we knew that we were undersized and we didn’t have great experience in the front row — but they just battled. They don’t quit on points. Our defense is phenomenal and they have that grit and heart and they just worked as hard as they could. That’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

While the Royals are now packing up for the year, the Warriors’ still have hopes of qualifying for the 3A state volleyball tournament later this month. The team will next play the no.3 seed Oak Harbor Wildcats in another district tourney loser-out match on Saturday, Nov. 16, starting at 11 a.m. at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. If E-W survives that match, the team will play the winner of the Shorecrest – Arlington match later on Saturday for third place in the district tourney and a berth in the state tournament.

Lewis believes she and her Warrior teammates are up for the challenge of another loser-out district tournament match on Saturday after Thursday’s win over Lynnwood.

“I think we’ll definitely come out with a lot of intensity, especially coming on the momentum from (the Lynnwood) game,” Lewis said. “That’s a big win and we feel really good about it. We’re excited to take on Saturday’s opponent.”

To view the entire District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament bracket, click www.wescoathletics.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=3106&sport=10. 

Prep Volleyball: Lynnwood vs. Edmonds-Woodway, Nov. 14 (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament loser-out match)

Edmonds-Woodway 3 – Lynnwood 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21)

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 13-4 overall; Lynnwood 7-10 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next match: versus Oak Harbor; Saturday, 11 a.m. at Marysville-Pilchuck High School (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament loser-out match); if E-W wins, the team will play the winner of the Arlington-Shorecrest loser-out match at 3:00 p.m. at Marysville-Pilchuck High School (District 1 3A Volleyball Tournament third place winner-to-state loser-out match)

Lynnwood next match: 2019 season completed

— By Doug Petrowski