Burroughs volleyball sweeps Burbank to tie up Pacific League top spot
BURBANK — With first place in the Pacific League at stake, the always highly anticipated rivalry battle between the Burroughs High and Burbank girls’ volleyball teams took on even greater significance.
And after a surprisingly lopsided outcome, the top of the league is all tied up.
The Indians rolled to an unexpected sweep, posting a 25-11, 25-12, 25-23 win at Burbank High on Thursday evening to put Burroughs in a tie for first place with Burbank and Arcadia.
The Indians and Bulldogs will meet in the league finale Oct. 24 at Burroughs. The Indians’ lone league loss came against Arcadia.
Burroughs (14-2, 6-1 in league) got 14 kills from Marin Grote and 10 from Juliana Van Loo. The duo paved the way near the net throughout most of the match, which featured a combined 21 serving errors.
“It’s a rivalry game, so you have to worry about your side,” said Grote, a senior outside hitter and reigning All-Area selection. “You also can’t worry about the crowd because that can get in your head.
“We knew we had to be aggressive and determined at the net and take advantage of any situation. We had to get the ball over the net and stay within ourselves. It was a very crucial game and there will be more along the way.”
Burroughs, which won a league title in 2015, got seven kills and four aces from Shea McGovern as it defeated Burbank for the fifth straight time.
“You never know what’s going to happen in a rivalry game, so we knew we had to come out hard,” said Burroughs coach Edwin Real, who has piloted the Indians to three league titles. “We were good at the net and in the back row and that made a big difference.
“We do feel like we have one of the best teams in the league and we had to prove that here. You have to beat some good teams if you want to win league. There’s still a month to go and we’ll be in some tight matches.”
Burbank, which won a league title after splitting it with Arcadia in 2012, looked to topple Burroughs for the first time since sweeping both contests in 2014.
Unfortunately for the Indians, they had a difficult time establishing a pace in the first two sets.
“We were off in a few things,” said Burbank coach Karl Rojo, who got nine kills from Melissa Daniel. “Our serving was off, especially early on, and maybe we were a bit too aggressive at the net.
“We just weren’t connection, although we played better in the last set. We have to get back at it and get back to where we were when we started the season. We want to be able to raise the ceiling by the time we get to the end of league.”
Burroughs jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set on an ace by Grote. McGovern had three straight aces, the last in the sequence giving the Indians a 20-8 lead.
The Indians stormed to a 10-1 lead in the second set, getting three kills from Grote and two from Van Loo. Burroughs closed out the set on an 8-2 run.
The third set was the most competitive. Burroughs held a 20-15 lead before Burbank closed to within 20-19. A kill by Burroughs’ Ricki Patenaude made it 22-19, but Burbank bounced back to take a 23-22 lead.
Burroughs sealed the win with a kill from Grote and two aces from Sabrina Sullivan.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
