Burbank, Daniel dominate fifth game to turn back Crescenta Valley
BURBANK — It was a stage in which Melissa Daniel was comfortable — being the focal point.
The senior for the Burbank High girls’ volleyball team stepped into the spotlight in a decisive fifth game against Crescenta Valley and the outside hitter hit all of her marks.
Daniel had a dominant performance in the fifth game Thursday afternoon against the Falcons, helping Burbank hold on for a 25-22, 27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 15-7 Pacific League victory at home.
The win keeps an undefeated start of the season intact for the Bulldogs (4-0, 3-0 in league), who placed fourth in league last season. In their first three league contests, the Bulldogs have knocked last year’s league champion Arcadia, upstart Pasadena and third-place finisher Crescenta Valley.
In the fifth game against the Falcons (1-7, 0-3), Daniel had six of her team’s seven kills and assisted on a block.
“I was definitely not on my ‘A’ game during the first couple of sets, so I wanted to try and step up during that fifth game,” said Daniel, who ended with a match-high 20 kills along with 22 digs. “We just have the mentally that we want to continue to do well this year and, to keep that up, we knew we had to win that fifth game. We just needed to establish that lead in that fifth game.”
The Bulldogs began the decisive fifth game on a 7-0 clip, thanks to four kills and a combo block from Daniel. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 10-1 on a kill from Daniel. Crescenta Valley went on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 10-5. But that would be as close as the Falcons would come down the stretch, as Burbank secured the victory on an ace from senior Katie Marcy.
Burbank, which received six kills from senior Suzy Torosyan and 25 assists from sophomore Ashley Eskander, came on late to take a 23-22 lead in the first game. The Bulldogs closed out the frame that included 11 ties with an ace from Daniel followed by a Falcons attacking error.
Behind junior Maya Lightfoot (team-high 13 kills), Crescenta Valley took a 21-20 lead in the second game on a kill by junior Teny Noordermeer (five kills). The advantage was short-lived, however, after Burbank retook the lead, 23-22, on a Falcons service error. A ace by Daniel and a Crescenta Valley attacking error gave the game and a 2-0 lead to the Bulldogs.
“One thing that we’ve really been trying to work on this season is our defense,” Crescenta Valley coach Travis Dancer said. “Our offense has been functioning well, but it’s our defense that we need to perfect.
“I thought that we slacked off in spots today and we didn’t play consistently throughout all the games. We needed to pick it up at certain times and we had some problems with that.”
In the third game, the Falcons surged ahead, 18-17, after a Burbank attacking attempt went into the net. Crescenta Valley enjoyed an 8-0 run that increased its lead to 22-17. A kill by junior Kaitlyn Karsten gave the Falcons the game.
Crescenta Valley continued to play well in the fourth game and enjoyed a seven-point advantage, 23-16. Burbank battled back to make it close, 24-22, but the Bulldogs dropped the game on a service error.
“We just made a lot of hitting mistakes in that third set and we were trying to go with trick plays or complicated plays when we just wanted them to keep it simple,” Burbank coach Kark Rojo said. “We told them that simple volleyball is what is going to make it happen and that’s what we ended up doing in that fifth set.”
Twitter: @jefftsports
