Burroughs volleyball can’t get past Westridge in playoffs
BURBANK — It all came down to a crucial fifth game when the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team took on Westridge Thursday evening.
“There are so few points in the fifth game, it’s only up to 15 so that can be tough,” said Indians coach Edwin Real, whose team was hosting the Tigers in a CIF Southern Section Division III second-round playoff contest.
Though the fifth set was tied early, Westridge made a surge and Burroughs wasn’t able to keep pace and the Indians went down to defeat, 25-11, 21-25, 15-25, 25-21, 15-9.
The loss spelled the end of the season for Burroughs (24-6), which captured the Pacific League championship.
“When you look back and see the things that we accomplished, the league title, some good tournament wins and the record was pretty good,” said Real, whose team advanced to the Division III quarterfinals in 2016. “It’s just this last one — you don’t want to be 1-1 in the playoffs.”
It was the final match for senior outside hitter Marin Grote, who is headed to the University of Washington. Grote had 16 kills.
Grote spent long stretches on the Burroughs bench during some crucial moments in the match.
“I wanted to be in there so badly,” Grote said. “I just wanted to be on the court and contribute in any way that I could. But I understand why the player was in there for me.”
Real said there was a reason why Grote was not in the lineup during some stretches.
“When she went to the back in the rotation we were having trouble passing … so we had to have someone pass for her,” he said.
Burroughs had problems with outside hitters Makana Meyer (16 kills) and Allison Martinez (11 kills), who paced the Westridge (23-4, Prep League champion) offense.
In the fifth game, the score was knotted at 3. But the Tigers surged ahead and took a four-point lead, 9-4, after a Burroughs attack attempt went wide. The Indians got to within two of the lead, 9-7, before Westridge went back up by four, 11-7, on a kill by Meyer. The Tigers secured the win when an Indians attack attempt went long.
After dropping the first game, Burroughs came back to win the next two. In the fourth game, the Indians had a 17-14 lead before the Tigers fought back and won the frame.
Juliana Van Loo added seven kills for Burroughs.
Twitter: @jefftsports
