Burbank volleyball has no answer for Burroughs
BURBANK — Burbank High sought to share the spoils in a heavily contested second game against rival Burroughs in a Pacific League girls’ volleyball match up Tuesday.
But the Indians had a different plan.
Host Burroughs rallied late in the second frame and carried the momentum into the final set to sweep Burbank, 25-12, 25-22, 25-18, and stretch its winning streak to seven straight over its cross-town foe.
“We get into the habit of letting teams get on rolls and runs,” Burroughs coach Edwin Real said. “We just finally put our foot down. We were in the [Ayala] Tournament last weekend and teams were getting runs on us, and we learned from that.”
The second game provided 10 lead changes before Burbank (6-10, 4-3 in league) took a 19-15 lead.
“That five-point run that we let up towards the end of the second set was what really killed us,” Burbank coach Karl Rojo said. “That shot us in the foot. And then going into the third set, it just felt like [Burroughs] completely had the flow of the game and that might have crushed us and crushed our momentum — crushed our mentality — but I did my best to keep our girls engaged.”
Burroughs (6-3, 5-1) rallied and pulled to within one, 22-21, before Lily Rogers hit three service aces to complete the comeback and sweep.
“All the energy and noise helped me stay in focus,” Rogers said. “And to have everyone around me and support me — my teammates and my coaches — it felt like that was another push for me to keep me going. I just wanted to keep going for my team.”
The Indians snaped the Bulldogs’ two-game win streak while simultaneously setting up back-to-back wins. Burbank had not been swept since its match against Arcadia on Aug. 30.
Burroughs outside hitter Lydia Grote completed the contest with a match-high 14 kills, while Rogers finished with 12 aces.
“She’s got one job only,” said Real about Rogers. “She comes in and serves and comes back out. Sometimes she serves one and the other team wins a rally and she’s done. But, luckily, she was on point.”
Burbank’s Olivia Price finished with four kills and two blocks and Katie Treadway also recorded four kills.
Burroughs jumped out with a quick 9-1 run against Burbank in the first set.
“Our energy was at a high level,” Real said. “We were consistent with our serve.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t fight their way back in the set when the Indians were well on their way to a 1-0 set lead despite looking unorganized at times.
The Indians committed four errors late in the first set that gave momentum for the Bulldogs.
Burbank and Burroughs traded shots in the second game before a few miscues propped the Bulldogs on a four-point lead, 19-15.
“We started off with more urgency, more purpose,” Rojo said.
Then the Indians took over.
Burroughs went on a 6-0 run behind Grote’s four straight kills at the start of the third game before the Bulldogs rallied back with three, consecutive aces from Ashley Eskander.
“We did our best with the sets that we got based upon the passing that we had throughout the match,” Rojo said. “I thought we did fairly well, but we could have done better if we passed better.”
Burroughs’ Valeria Palma answered back and started another 6-0 Indians run to establish a 12-7 cushion.
The Indians’ lead stretched to eight, 18-10, before finishing off the Bulldogs with a Juliana Van Loo (seven kills) kill.
Twitter: @ReporterVince