Indians get back at Bulldogs

Jim Riggio

The Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team had something to prove

Tuesday night when it hosted Burbank High in a Foothill League match.

After losing to the Bulldogs earlier in the season, the Indians

knew they could not suffer another letdown at home against their

cross-town rivals.

They didn’t.

Burroughs turned the tables on Burbank and defeated the Bulldogs,

25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23.

The crowd was unusually quiet in the opening game of the match.

“It took time for people to get into it,” said Burroughs Coach

Edwin Real, who earned his first league victory as the Indians’ coach

after spending 12 years as an assistant to longtime Burroughs Coach

Linda Murphy.

“We were anxious to get a victory. We had to step it up because

[Burbank] had us the first time and my girls stepped it up. We just

played a lot better than we did the first time. This time we just

served more consistently, which gave us a chance to win the match.”

Burroughs (5-10, 1-6 in league) came out and won the first two

games, as a host of players helped the Indians get the early lead.

“At different times, a different kid would step up,” said Real,

whose team lost to Burbank in four games when they played earlier in

the season.” That’s what a team game is like.”

Burroughs got eight kills from Alisha Smirch, seven from Ashley

Beckwith, six from Michelle Galvez and five from Ashley Hillebrandt.

Although Burbank (2-5 in league) lost the match, the Bulldogs got

a fine performance from senior Mackenzie Cogswell, who had a

match-high 13 kills.

“They came out strong and it took us three games to actually get

fired up,” said Burbank’s Megan Kavanaugh, who had three kills.

Cogswell, who was all over the court, said she noticed flaws in

her team’s game.

“I didn’t think we covered the ball on tips as well as could have,

and our passing was kind of off,” Cogswell said.

Real said he was glad Cogswell wasn’t in his team’s face

throughout the match.

“She had us for a while,” Real said. “Luckily, she couldn’t play

that role all six rotations.”