Burroughs volleyball’s Jacobs shares Pacific League MVP honor

Burroughs High boys’ volleyball player Daniel Jacobs and Stephen Zetterberg of rival Claremont have been dominant players the last two seasons in the Pacific League.

Fittingly, the two have led their respective teams to two consecutive league championships, as the Indians and Wolfpack have shared the crown in each of the last two seasons.

Jacobs and Zetterberg have also become synonymous with success the last two seasons when it comes to the top award in the Pacific League. For the second consecutive season, Jacobs and Zetterberg have been named the co-league players of the year

“I don’t mind sharing it with him because he’s such a good player,” said Jacobs, a senior outside hitter. “I think it’s just an honor to be up there with him for the award, now for the second year in a row.”

Jacobs tops an impressive all-league list that includes nine local recipients — six from Burroughs and three from Burbank.

Making the first team for the Indians was senior setter BJ Lagmay, senior middle Shayne Beamer and senior outside Daniel Marbach. The lone first-team honoree for Burbank was senior outside John You.

Named to the second team for Burbank was middle blocker Elijah Cowart. Burroughs received second-team selections in outside hitter Jonathan Fuentes and libero Danny Casillas. Honorable mention went to middle Nick Van Loo of Burroughs and outside hitter Josh Wright of Burbank.

Jacobs was a valuable weapon for the Indians this past season. Not only was he a force from the outside, but his powerful serve kept opponents off-balance and his improved defensive skills proved to be an asset.

“I was really working on being more of a defensive player this season,” Jacobs said. “I was trying to get more digs and more blocks and really trying to be more active on the defensive end.”

Jacobs ended the season with a wealth of impressive accomplishments. He led the team with 219 kills and 36 aces, to go along with 110 digs and 15 blocks.

The senior also seemed to elevate his game for the most important matches of the season. In the first contest against Claremont, Jacobs had 26 kills, which was second-best in program history. Unfortunately, the Indians lost a close match in five games. However, in the rematch, Jacobs tallied 24 kills (No. 3 all-time) to lift Burroughs to a four-game win that secured it a share of the championship.

He ends his career at Burroughs as the program’s all-time kill leader with 729.

“It’s an amazing accomplishment what he’s been able to do in his career at Burroughs,” Indians Coach Joel Brinton said. “You just look at what he’s been able to do, how he’s helped us be successful and the numbers he’s put up, and that’s pretty impressive.”

Jacobs helped the Indians to another prosperous season. Along with a 21-8 record and a share of the league crown, Burroughs also advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.

You was also an invaluable player for Burbank (11-16), which tied for third in league and qualified for the playoffs in just the second year of varsity competition after reviving its program. Burbank Coach Patrick McMenamin was named the league’s co-coach of the year with Bernie Wendling of Claremont.

You led the Bulldogs with 144 kills. He also tallied 121 digs, 15 assists, 12 blocks and nine aces.

“It was nice to see John make it on the first team,” McMenamin said. “He was our go-to guy, especially in big situations. When we needed a sideout, our setters found him more than any one of our other players on the team.”

In earning first-team accolades, Lagmay paced Burroughs with 445 assists and also had 25 kills, 17 aces, 73 digs and 13 blocks. Lagmay tallied 46 assists against Claremont (No. 3 all-time). Beamer had 138 kills, 23 blocks (led the team) and 20 aces and Marbach had 95 kills, 100 digs, 16 aces and eight blocks.

Earning Burbank’s most valuable player award was Coward. The second-teamer had 105 kills with 220 digs, 19 aces and 29 blocks.

Burroughs’ Casillas had 169 digs — which was tops on the team — and tallied 23 against Claremont. Fuentes tallied 58 kills, eight blocks, 18 aces and 104 digs, despite not earning a starting job until halfway through the season.

Van Loo had 61 kills, 14 blocks and 11 aces and Wright had 84 kills, 70 digs and paced the Bulldogs with 27 aces and 58 blocks.

“I am pretty amazed with the number of guys we got on the all-league teams,” Brinton said. “To get essentially our entire starting lineup on is pretty nice. I have to go back and look, but I don’t think we’ve ever done that before.”