LACEY — It couldn’t matter less to the Timberline Blazers that their Tuesday, Oct. 6 showdown of 3A juggernauts at North Thurston was classified as a non-league matchup.
What matters is that the Blazers ripped the unyielding monkey off their backs.
Timberline knocked off North Thurston in four sets to clinch its first victory against the Rams since the 2017 Class 3A District 3 Tournament. North Thurston had won 16 in a row against its rival before Tuesday night.
Timberline’s senior core was 0-6 in their careers against the Rams before the four-set win at North Thurston, and nothing motivated them more than the vision of finally leapfrogging that hurdle.
“We are so much older now than we were. Personally, I grew up as a freshman watching us play Thurston. There’s a lot of history behind it,” senior libero Jovie Lind said. “We knew we wanted to win, and we executed.”
It took a huge night from three of those Blazers seniors to triumph against their rivals. Kinley Smith erupted for 39 kills and 16 digs, while Leia Dela Cruz dished out an eye-popping 53 assists. Lind was clutch on defense against the Rams’ powerful hitters, cleaning up 25 digs.
Timberline recently returned from the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona, where the Blazers took bronze in their division against some of the top teams in the country. That trip was booked in part to boost Timberline’s chances at winning games like Tuesday’s.
The Blazers were without senior Miya Jackson during that trip to the desert, and they lost senior middle Lilly Grant to a fibula fracture in her right leg while on the trip. They were tasked with trying different formations and testing out different bench players to step into bigger roles, and they delivered in Arizona and against North Thurston. Kinley Zimmerman, Sofia Dixon-Ross and Nora Korn all entered and provided valuable minutes for Timberline in its rivalry win in front of a packed house.
“Losing Lilly was big. We needed to prove that we could still beat North Thurston without Lilly,” Timberline head coach Matt Monnastes said. “When you see as many people in the stands as they did, it boosts their confidence. A lot of people were probably watching it online. This was the team to beat. It boosts their confidence, and this kind of locked in our top spot.”
North Thurston was rolling on offense after the opening serve, building a quick 3-0 lead off kills from Abby Losey and Ava Almonte. Dixon-Ross made her presence felt early with a block in the middle, and Smith took over with kills all over the floor. A 5-0 Blazers run produced a 12-8 lead and forced North Thurston’s first timeout. Timberline led for the remainder of the first set; after the Rams pulled within three points at 20-17, the Blazers slammed the door with five unanswered to win 25-17.
North Thurston stormed in front in the second set by scoring the first four points, and Losey took over on offense from that point. Midway through the frame, Losey delivered a serve that slammed into the front of the net but somehow trickled down onto the Blazers side of the floor.
The Rams led wire-to-wire in the second set, winning 25-19. Through two sets, Losey already had 14 kills.
“Our serve receive was great, so it allowed us to hit. It was really fun to see that,” North Thurston head coach Jackie Meyer said. “We’ve had a couple good second sets in games. Once they start building off of that and keep that energy, it’s going to be fun to see what they can accomplish.”
For the third straight set, the Rams held an early advantage, leading from the first point until it was 14-13, when a Dela Cruz dump kill tied the match at 14 and a Smith kill gave the Blazers their first lead of the stanza.
Then, it was Smith’s turn to take over on offense. She pelted the Rams defense from the back row throughout the remainder of the frame, lifting Timberline to a 25-23 come-from-behind win in set three.
“Her back row attack is just as lethal as her front row attack,” Monnastes said of Smith.
Not only was Smith’s offensive outburst crucial to the third-set victory, but the Blazers made some adjustments to slow down Losey.
“We told them to get the block in front of Losey, take up space, slow her down, even if it’s just getting a touch on it because then our defense can do something,” Monnastes said. “We reminded the team to point her out on the court. That really did help slow them down, and then we also started trying to serve tougher.”
Smith’s burst of offense continued into the fourth set, while Kaelani Adams and Losey matched her on the other side of the court. Losey finished with 22 kills, and Adams tallied 15 kills.
A 12-10 North Thurston lead quickly morphed into a 20-13 Timberline lead following a 10-1 run, with six of those points scored by Smith. The Blazers, points away from beating their longtime rival, didn’t flinch under pressure and completed the monumental win with a 25-18 triumph in set four.
“We’ve definitely been preparing. Of course, it’s a rivalry game, so it’s always gonna be competitive,” Lind said. “I’m just really proud of my team. We went out there, played with heart, and made it happen.”
North Thurston already has more losses through nine games than it did all of last season during its state championship run, but Meyer is not concerned. She knows her team, with many new pieces, needs time to develop on the court.
“It takes a while in a season to build that chemistry. I’ve always told the girls that it’s not really about how you’re doing now. It’s how we finish later on,” Meyer said. “I thought they battled really hard at it. I think it was a really good battle.”
Smith, a Western Washington commit, credited her defense for allowing her to attack with reckless abandon on offense, providing a season-best 39 kills.
“We talked about how we were gonna get more balls up on defense, especially when (North Thurston) has such strong hitters. Getting balls up to where we can run our offense well is crucial,” Smith said. “We have a really strong core group of girls. We can put anybody on the court and deal with any type of team. We’re able to find the pieces to break them down.”
Dela Cruz added that Smith’s variety of attacks was a big reason why the Blazers have been successful this season.
“Feeding Kinley was the main thing. She was attacking and using her toolbox and using everything she had,” Dela Cruz said of Smith. “Last year, we hit the same things every time, but we expanded our toolbox, and that’s why we won tonight.”
Timberline (9-0, 6-0 Puget Sound League) was scheduled to play Lakes on Thursday, but the game was postponed. Instead, the Blazers will get a week off of competition before traveling to Peninsula on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
North Thurston (7-2, 5-1 PSL) will host River Ridge Thursday, Oct. 8.
