Late rally propels Burroughs boys’ volleyball to SoCal semifinals
BURBANK — Somewhere between relief, elation and redemption were the feelings of the Burroughs High boys’ volleyball team Tuesday evening.
Three days after dropping Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division II championship match, the Indians were on the verge of being unceremoniously bounced from the first round of the CIF State Southern California Division II playoffs at home by upset-minded Chatsworth.
Responding to arguably its two worst games of the year, second-seeded Burroughs rallied for a thrilling 21-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-19, 15-12 victory.
With the win, Pacific League champion Burroughs (29-6) punched its ticket to the SoCal Regional semifinals on Thursday versus No. 3 Sanger (31-9), a 25-20, 25-18, 25-14 winner over Cathedral on Tuesday.
Thursday’s match time has not been decided due to travel arrangements for Sanger along with the Burroughs High graduation on Thursday.
“[That] was absolutely the worst we’ve played all year and probably the entire school year, not only this season, but including practices and everything else,” Burroughs Coach Joel Brinton said of the Indians’ losses in the first two games. “I don’t know if it was a hangover from CIF.
“Saturday meant a lot to those guys, so I think we were still trying to shake off the cobwebs. Our seniors did a good job of getting everyone’s heads screwed on straight.”
It was a pair of seniors, in particular, that turned in titanic efforts, as outside hitter Andrew Dalmada set a school record with 34 kills and setter Ryan Van Loo is also No. 1 in the Burroughs’ history books with 61 assists.
“I think it was our ability to reset and refocus after every game that helped us come back,” Dalmada said. “To win this game is incredible and to be one step closer to facing [No. 1] Oak Park in a championship game (on Saturday with a win Thursday) was our motivating factor.”
A front-row kill from setter Erik Lee gave the Los Angeles City Section Division II champion Chancellors (33-13-1) an 8-6 advantage in the final set, which led Brinton to call a timeout.
Chatsworth led as late as 12-11 on an Indians’ attacking error, before Burroughs made an improbable match-winning 4-0 run highlighted by two kills from D’Almada and a clinching ace from senior Cameron Capili.
“I never thought about a game-winning ace, ever, but I know with all this hard work that I had no doubt we’d win,” said Capili, who finished with 20 kills and four aces. “I think early on we just weren’t used to the environment and it took us time to adjust. I’m just glad we did.”
Down 2-0, Burroughs turned in its best effort in the third game to roll to a 25-15 win fueled by eight kills and one ace from D’Almada and four kills and an ace from Capili.
In the fourth game, the Chancellors took a 14-10 lead before Burroughs reeled off a 9-4 spurt to go ahead, 19-18, on a Capili kill.
Though Chatsworth tied it at 19 on a kill from Travis Hayes (eight kills and two blocks), Burroughs closed with a 6-0 run that ended on another Capili ace.
“Our goal tonight was to show that we could play with anybody and we did that,” Chatsworth Coach Sina Aghassy said. “The difference in the match, especially in the later part, was Burroughs’ serving and [Capili]. They served us really tough and it was a lot more difficult to get into our offense.”
Aghassy had four players tally eight or more kills, led by senior opposite Jayson Moore’s 15 kills.
Moore totaled seven kills in the second game, which Chatsworth won, 25-22.
In the first set, the Chancellors raced out to a 7-4 advantage and never surrendered their lead before a dump from Lee won the set, 25-21.
Bailey Carter added nine kills and three blocks for Burroughs.
“I think we took Chatsworth for granted a little and that almost cost us,” Dalmada said. “They came out and hit us hard and I think the best thing we did was just focus on each point and each game. That’s how we were able to come back.”
