Burroughs volleyball sweeps Crescenta Valley for second time

Going into Tuesday, the Burroughs High and Crescenta Valley girls’ volleyball teams were still mathematically in the running for the Pacific League championship.

With just three matches remaining in the regular season, the Falcons and the Indians, the defending league champions, came into their league match tied for second place in league, two matches behind league-leading Arcadia.

Following the matchup, Burroughs remained in the league title race and moved into second place by itself when it swept host Crescenta Valley, 25-18, 25-23, 25-17.

The Indians also swept the Falcons in the teams’ first meeting Sept. 29.

With a sweep of Hoover Tuesday, Arcadia (18-1, 12-0 in league) secured a share of the Pacific League title with two matches left. The Indians (18-5, 10-2) sit in the second spot, one match ahead of the Falcons (12-9, 9-3).

Burroughs’ two losses in league have come against the Apaches.

“We definitely said that we can’t get anything less than second place,” said Burroughs Coach Edwin Real, whose team will play Muir Thursday and close out the regular season Oct. 25 against rival Burbank. “When we lost to Arcadia the second time, we really didn’t see them losing any more so we figured we would be playing for second place.

“We are in a good position to get second place, but we still have to play Burbank.”

Crescenta Valley is alone in third place, two matches ahead of Burbank (7-5 in league). The Falcons are at Burbank Thursday and will face Arcadia on Oct. 25.

The Falcons played their best in the second game, but had their problems with the Indians and junior Marin Grote, who led all players with 21 kills.

“We just had no rhythm and Burroughs proved that they are a much better team than us right now,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Kevin Boyke, who received a team-high 13 kills from senior Patty Kerman. “I was surprised with our level of intensity throughout the match. I thought we were up and down, not ourselves and not playing our style.

“Burroughs beat us twice, so they proved they are the better team.”

Crescenta Valley, which received five kills from junior Marly Gang, had a 10-8 lead in the first game. But that advantage quickly evaporated after Burroughs went on a 6-0 run to surge into the lead, 14-10. The Falcons were only able to knock the lead down to three the remainder of the game.

In the second game, Crescenta Valley again enjoyed a lead midway through the stanza, 12-8, following a kill by Kerman. Burroughs made up the deficit and went in front, 15-14, after a 4-0 run. The Falcons then kept things close, tying the score four times before the Indians took a 20-19 advantage on a kill by Caleigh Paster (five kills). The game remained tight down the stretch before Grote finally finished things off with a kill to put Burroughs up, 2-0.

“We definitely brought it together as a team and this is a good team win in general,” Grote said. “We really want that second place spot from our league because we think that will help us advance in the playoffs.”

Crescenta Valley only led briefly in the early going of the third game. But Burroughs took control, built a seven-point lead, 14-7, and was able to coast the rest of the way.

Junior Julianna Cottrell added five kills for the Indians.