Burroughs boys’ volleyball makes quick work of Valencia in CIF quarterfinal

BURBANK — It might have been revenge that served as motivation for the Burroughs High boys’ volleyball team.

Or the Indians might have been motivated by simply wanting to get to their senior prom on time.

Whatever the Indians used for inspiration, it worked wonders for the team in their CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinal Saturday afternoon against Valencia Valencia.

Burroughs played well, passed with efficiency, cut down on its unforced errors and made quick work of the visiting Vikings in a 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 victory.

The match had to be moved up to 2 p.m. Saturday because of the school’s prom that was being held in the evening.

“We definitely wanted to make it quick so we could make it to prom in time,” Burroughs’ Ryan Van Loo said.

However, a bigger motivation might have been the Indians’ desire to give Valencia a little payback. In last season’s Division II semifinals, the Vikings knocked the Indians out of the playoffs in a three-game sweep.

“We really wanted revenge from last year,” said Van Loo, who had 31 assists, eight kills and three blocks. “It was really tough last year to be as close as we were and to just fall short. We really thought that we had it. So, we just remembered that feeling and we wanted to come back and defeat this team, and we did.”

The win puts the No. 3-seeded Indians (26-5), who captured their seventh straight Pacific League championship, into their second consecutive playoff semifinal contest. Burroughs will take South Pasadena (24-7) on Wednesday on the road.

The Tigers are fresh from a 19-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-21 upset win of No. 2 Laugua Beach in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Burroughs came into the quarterfinal against Valencia (18-12) — the runner-up in the Foothill League — after having to battle to beat Long Beach Poly in a tight five-game contest two days earlier. In that match, the Indians made their share of unforced errors and struggled at times.

“I think the Poly game was a real wake-up call for us,” Burroughs Coach Joel Brinton said. “We went over the stats as a team and it kind of opened up our eyes to what we were doing and what we weren’t doing, and what we needed to change. I think the guys did a good job at looking at those numbers and realizing that ‘hey, we’ve got to step up.’

“It also didn’t hurt that we were playing today against Valencia. I’m sure that revenge factor was in the back of their minds. Last year was a bitter pill to swallow. Regardless of who it came against, it’s nice to be able to still practice with this group and nice that we get to play next week.”

Burroughs was paced on offense by Andrew Dalmada, who had 14 kills to go along with seven digs. Teammate Cameron Capili added 12 kills and seven digs.

The Vikings held a lead midway through the opening game.

Valencia enjoyed a three-point advantage at 9-6 and was able to keep the Indians from surging ahead. Burroughs tied the score six times, the last at 14-14, before finally going ahead, 15-14, on a block by Jarrett Malone. However, the Indians couldn’t add to their lead and the Vikings tied things at 18. Burroughs finally took the lead for good at 19-18 on a Valencia double hit call and increased its advantage to four, 23-19, following a kill by Van Loo. Burroughs closed out the first game on a Capili kill.

The opener saw both squads commit just seven unforced errors each.

Burroughs played even better in the second game, tallying just five unforced errors.

“The fact that we were able to play that way and cut down on our errors, something that we had a lot of against Poly, was huge,” Brinton said. “Our set opportunities were through the roof because we were just making smart plays. We were just being very mindful of where to put the ball. I thought the guys did a great job with that and that helped us a great deal.

In the second game the Indians never trailed. The Vikings kept it close early, knotting the score at 5. However, Burroughs embarked on a 7-1 run that resulted in a six-point lead, 12-6. The Indians then upped the advantage to seven five times until finally going ahead by eight, 21-13, on an ace by Bailey Carter. The Indians completed the game on a 4-3 spurt, punctuated by a kill by Dalmada to take a 2-0 advantage in games.

After jumping out to an early lead in the third game, Valencia went in front, 10-9, on a Burroughs’ attacking error. After Brinton called a timeout, the Indians surged, went on a 6-0 run and took a 15-10 lead. The closest the Vikings would come to taking the lead the rest of the way was two, 17-15, as the Indians closed out the game and the contest on a 8-4 clip.

“We wanted to get our guys out of here early so they could get dressed up and have a good time at their prom,” Brinton said with a grin.

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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

Twitter: @jefftsports