Burroughs volleyball wraps up another outright Pacific League crown
For eight straight seasons players have come and gone.
For eight straight seasons old teams have been replaced by new ones.
But through all the changes in the eight-year span, one thing has remained a constant — winning.
The Burroughs High boys’ volleyball team continued a tenure of dominance in the Pacific League Thursday afternoon when it earned a 25-9, 25-10, 25-18 victory over host Hoover.
The victory secured the outright league championship for the Indians with one match remaining in the regular season. The title is the eighth straight for Burroughs (14-9, 9-0 in league), which has won six undisputed crowns and shared two others with Claremont, which is no longer in the league.
All of the championships have come under coach Joel Brinton, whose team has won 52 straight league contests dating back to 2013.
“I get a lot of people asking me what is it that you do to have these teams win as many years as you have,” said Brinton, whose team won a CIF Southern California Regional Division II championship in 2016. “But when it comes down to it, I really don’t think that I do much. We are really fortunate to have the kids that we have and I’m fortunate to have the coaching staff that I have. It is really the combination of the two.
“We talk about it a lot that we think it takes a certain type of guy to be in our program, the right kind of guy who has to fit the mold that we want. If we continue to get that kind of guy, we can continue doing very well.”
Burroughs can complete its fourth straight undefeated league campaign Tuesday against Burbank.
In contrast, it has been a challenging season for Hoover (0-8 overall and in league) under first-year coach Daniel Seranian. A season ago the Tornadoes qualified for postseason for the first time in 19 years, but will finish last in league among six teams this season.
“Things have been tough for us this year,” Seranian said. “We are at the bottom of the league, we are at the rebuilding stage with our program and I only have 10 players.
“We have a motto here his season here and that is we either win or we learn. There is no losing here. We don’t take it as losing, but we want to learn from our mistakes and we definitely did that today.”
Brinton, who received six kills from Cole Kaitz, five digs from Sam Tipton and three aces from Skyler Bercini, was able to clear his bench and spread the playing time around against the Tornadoes.
Burroughs began the contest in dominant fashion, jumping out to a 16-3 advantage in the first game on no errors compared to eight for Hoover. The Indians rolled the rest of the way for the win, ending with just three errors.
Hoover made it close early on in the second game and trailed, 6-5. But with Bercini serving, the Indians embarked on a 12-0 run to take a commanding 18-5 lead. The run was finally halted by a kill from Hoover’s John Pfeiffer (four kills). The Tornadoes were able to score just three points the rest of the way.
The Tornadoes were at their best in the third game and trailed by just one at 11-10. But the Indians slowly pulled away, aided by 15 unforced errors by Hoover in the game.
“We knew what a win today meant, but we really just approached it as just another game,” Kaitz said. “Winning a league title is a focus for us, but our main goal is to get better as a team.
“Just because we clinched league doesn’t mean we’re going to let up next week against Burbank.
Edwin Miciano led Hoover with five kills.
Twitter: @jefftsports
