Burroughs volleyball all business in sweep of Pasadena
PASADENA — It was a loss almost a month ago that lit a fire under the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team.
The Indians lost to Arcadia in four games Sept. 19 to suffer their first Pacific League defeat.
However, since that setback, Burroughs has been on a roll with a string of dominant performances and has not tasted defeat.
The Indians earned their eighth straight league victory Tuesday afternoon with a 25-9, 25-9, 25-15 win against Pasadena at Marshall Fundamental.
“When we lost to Arcadia it affected our team goal,” said Burroughs coach Edwin Real, whose team has dropped only one game during the eight-match win streak. “It affected us in terms of us winning league and just in terms of playing dominant Burroughs volleyball.
“So we tried to step up our game and play like the way we knew that we could and the results have been pretty good.”
The win Tuesday against the Bulldogs (13-8, 7-5 in league) kept Burroughs (21-3, 11-1) in first place a match ahead of Arcadia (10-2) with two matches left to play. The Indians play Hoover on Thursday and will finish the regular season against rival Burbank Oct. 24.
“We talked about being business-like against Pasadena and just doing what we have to do, kind of like going to a job,” said Real, whose team sweep Pasadena both times the teams played this season. “The last time we played them we were kind of loose and not focused at times and they took us pretty deep in the 20s in some games.
“So we are making it a point to stay focused and be ready for every game and not let up.”
Burroughs was led by sophomore outside hitter Lydia Grote, who had a match-high nine kills. Marin Grote, a senior outside hitter who has committed to the University of Washington, added seven kills and senior middle Ricki Patenaude had six. Senior defensive specialist Sabrina Sullivan contributed four aces.
With Lydia Grote leading the way with five kills, the Indians took control early in the first game. The Bulldogs were still within striking distance, 9-6, before Burroughs turned up the heat. The Indians embarked on a 10-0 run for a 19-6 advantage.
“Our coach today told us to make sure that we started out fast in that first game,” Lydia Grote said. “Usually we start out slow and end fast and make it a closer game than it should. But today we came out and played well from the beginning and we really played together as a team.”
Pasadena couldn’t generate much offense in the second game, ending with just two kills. Burroughs was able to play a relatively clean game with just four unforced errors. With a 9-7 lead, Burroughs went on a 12-1 spurt to take a 21-8 lead.
The third game was the most competitive. Pasadena surged in front and led by three, 7-4. But the Indians battled back and took the lead, 10-9, on a kill from junior middle Maggie Harris. The Bulldogs stayed close late in the frame before Burroughs closed things out with a 8-0 run.
Twitter: @jefftsports
