Burroughs girls’ volleyball hands Crescenta Valley first league loss
BURBANK — At 6-feet-5, Marin Grote can be intimidating to match up against on the court.
The junior outside hitter on the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team has a penchant for using her height to jump up and pound the ball down the sidelines for a kill.
That method worked wonders Thursday for Grote, who finished with 16 kills to spur host Burroughs to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 Pacific League win against Crescenta Valley.
“I’ve been playing volleyball for about eight or nine years now and I’ve learned a lot,” Grote said. “You try to use your height to your advantage and see what you can do.
“We needed to go out there and play smart and we did that today. We knew we’d have to play against a good CV team. It’s probably my best match of the season.”
Burroughs (7-3, 4-1 in league) pulled into a tie for second with Crescenta Valley (7-7, 4-1). Arcadia entered its match Thursday at 4-0 in league, while Burbank was 3-1. The Indians and Falcons will meet again at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Crescenta Valley.
Grote, who also plays on the school’s basketball team, recorded the last two kills of the third set. She finished with seven kills in the final set.
“She’s not just smart, but she’s very athletic,” said Burroughs Coach Edwin Real, who led the Indians to the league championship last season. “She’s got the ability to get up and get a lot of kills and she showed that today.
“It’s a big win to get, especially after the bump in the road we had with Arcadia. CV played tough and they have a very good team. We were able to make some adjustments and things worked out.”
Crescenta Valley looked like it might force a fourth game after it took a 21-18 lead in the third on a kill by outside hitter Marley Gang, but Burroughs then closed out on a 7-1 run.
“I thought we played very well in the third game,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Kevin Boyke, who got 11 kills from Gang and eight from right side hitter Patty Kerman. “We just seemed to have trouble passing well during certain times.”
“Hats off to Burroughs. They deserved to win. [Grote] is a very talented player.”
The Indians controlled the pace throughout most of the second set. They took a 6-3 lead on an ace from setter Ali Perez and extended the advantage to 15-8 on a kill by Caleigh Paster (six kills). Middle blocker Julie Van Loo added two kills down the stretch to give the Indians the pivotal second game.
Crescenta Valley took a 10-9 lead in the first game following an ace from libero Noor Alanizi. However, Burroughs bounced back by going on an 8-0 run to make it 17-10. Setter Lauren Zedlar and opposite hitter Sophia Rizzotti had two aces and two blocks, respectively.
