Crescenta Valley volleyball turns things around, turns back Burbank
Patty Kerman and the Crescenta Valley High girls’ volleyball team defeated Burbank in four games on Tuesday.
LA CRESCENTA — Things took a dramatic turn in the second game of Tuesday’s Pacific League girls’ volleyball match between Crescenta Valley High and Burbank.
The Bulldogs won the opener on the Falcons’ home floor, forcing the hosts to regroup.
“We just came out slow that first set and we knew going into that second set that we had to increase our energy and we needed to play better,” Crescenta Valley senior right side Patty Kerman said. “We just had to step up.”
The Falcons dominated the second game and the Bulldogs never seemed to recover. Crescenta Valley rebounded from the first-game loss and won the next three to post a 24-26, 25-15, 25-22, 26-24 victory.
The Falcons (8-7, 5-1 in league) and Bulldogs (10-4-1, 4-2) came into the day in a three-way tie for second place in the Pacific League. The third team, defending champion Burroughs (10-3, 5-1), swept Muir Tuesday and the Indians and Falcons remain knotted in second place.
All the teams are trailing Arcadia (12-1, 6-0), which remains in first place by one match after sweeping Glendale Tuesday.
“We needed this win for us to stay in the hunt,” Crescenta Valley Coach Kevin Boyke said. “If we lose this one, it puts us down another game and it’s hard to have to battle back from that. We want to stay close to Burroughs, who beat us, and naturally Arcadia.
“It’s a very competitive league and there are four teams that are very close to one another.”
The Falcons received a fine effort from Kerman, who led her team with 16 kills. Teammate Annamarie Alvaraz added 12 kills, Marly Gang and Adelina Minasian added seven apiece and Noor Alanizi had seven aces.
Paced by senior outside hitter Hailey Heath, who led all players with 21 kills, Burbank fought back from a deficit midway through the first game to win the stanza. Heath had six kills and five aces in the opener.
But the Bulldogs couldn’t maintain that momentum in the second game. Burbank never led in the stanza and tied the score just once, at 3-3. From that point, the Falcons turned it on, committing just five unforced errors in the game to knot the match at 1.
“They really gained all the momentum in that second game and we just couldn’t answer back from the beating that we took in that game,” Burbank Coach Karl Rojo said. “I think it was a lack of intensity and maybe a lack of effort that led to our problems in that second game.
“I had a feeling it was going to be a tough battle against this team. They are a good team and a solid program and they have some good hitters. We had problems stopping [Kerman].”
In the third game, it was tied twice down the stretch at 21 and 22 before Crescenta Valley took a 23-22 lead on a thundering kill by Kerman. A block by Alvarez and a subsequent kill by Minasian gave the game to the Falcons.
The Bulldogs again went ahead late in the fourth game, 21-20, following a Falcons attacking error. From there the teams battled in a tight one, tying at 21, 22 and 24. But a kill by Tara Coffeen gave Crescenta Valley the lead, and the game and match ended on the next point when Burbank hit the ball under the net.
Junior setter Melissa Daniel added 13 kills and three aces for Burbank.
