Burbank boys’ volleyball claims hard-earned sweep against St. Genevieve
BURBANK — In a nonleague boys’ volleyball match at home on Wednesday, Burbank High coach Karl Rojo sought to keep the rhythm going with his Bulldogs against St. Genevieve.
The Bulldogs’ coach wanted to see better shot selections and a more energetic approach to the game against an inexperienced Valiants group.
Though it was a battle early on, Burbank completed a sweep against St. Genevieve, 25-15, 25-12, 25-13, in a nonleague contest at Burbank.
“I wanted them to improve their serving and pick better spots to force them one way so that we can improve our blocking or load up when we know where it’s going,” Rojo said. “I wanted them to be a little more dynamic with their shot and stop going angle.
“I think we did that a little better in the second and third sets. The outsides and the right sides started picking better shots and stopped going angle. They picked a different way.”
The victory marks Burbank’s fourth consecutive sweep and its fifth straight win.
Burbank was led by a group of seniors, as Dawson Koerper had five kills, Kalam Park contributed four kills and four blocks and Brandon Villaflor had14 assists.
The Bulldogs also received contributions from sophomore Jack Coleman (three aces) and seniors Chase Marcy (four kills) and Jason Kwon (seven assists), as the hosts spread the floor around for much of the match.
“It was just a matter of playing to our ability and playing our energy,” Rojo said. “I was just focusing on what we had to do better, and that was maybe running faster off the mark, serving balls in better spots, just keep the balls in play and not committing errors. We just had to pick up our energy, momentum and effort.”
The Bulldogs (5-1) established an early 5-0 lead in the first set before the Valiants scored four unanswered points to pull within one.
The visitors came close to the lead again in the set, 8-7, after St. Genevieve capitalized on a number of Burbank miscues.
Burbank was able to add to its lead, but it wasn’t until late in the set where the Bulldogs started to gain momentum from Marcy and Park to establish its largest lead of the set, 22-13, before the Bulldogs closed it out.
“We were taking care of our basic stuff,” said St. Genevieve coach Miguel Segura, who was a player and coach at Bellarmine-Jefferson High. “We’re a very, very small and inexperienced team this year, so we rely a lot on doing well on basics and just being solid on basic volleyball.
“It’s hard to stay consistent with that when we’re still in the learning process. I was proud when we were hitting on all cylinders. It looked kind of good.”
The Valiants (0-7) and Bulldogs traded off scoring in the second set and played to four ties, though Burbank momentarily grabbed the lead three times. With the score tied at 7, Burbank went on a 12-1 run to set up a 19-8 lead that carried through for a win and a 2-0 lead.
“In the first two sets, I think we kind of struggled, actually, for passing and getting a good pass to get a good set,” Park said. “We huddled every time and we fixed that. I think that worked for us getting kills and just pushing it out to the outside and spreading out the offense. I think that worked out for us.”
Burbank pulled away early in the third set and outscored St. Geneviene, 7-1, to set up a 12-6 lead as the Bulldogs starters sat out.
Koerper struck all five of his kills in the final set and scored the match point for the Bulldogs, who completed the sweep.
Twitter: @ReporterVince