Burroughs High girls’ volleyball battles back to top Burbank
BURBANK — The Burbank High girls’ volleyball team looked like a tough squad to beat Thursday in the first game of a Pacific League contest.
The Bulldogs, the defending co-league champions, came roaring out of the gate playing great defense and hitting the ball well in the opening stanza against the Indians. However, Burbank couldn’t keep up the momentum, as Burroughs came storming back, winning the next three games, and walking away with a 17-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19, victory at Burbank.
The win was an important one for Burroughs (9-5, 6-1 in league), which is trying to stay in contention for a league championship. The Indians are in second place behind Arcadia (9-4, 6-0), which earned a four-game victory Thursday against Crescenta Valley.
Indians Coach Edwin Real said his team’s problems in the first game were more to do with how well the cross-town rival Bulldogs (8-6, 4-3) played in the opener.
“We did make our share of errors in that first game, but they just played great defense on us,” Real said. “They were digging every ball that we tried to get past them. Give them a lot of credit, they played well in that first game.”
After the first game, Burroughs’ Caitlin Cottrell (match-high 13 kills) began to make her presence known. Cottrell and teammate Katie Rutecki (12 kills, nine assists) stepped up and started to cause problems for the Burbank defense.
After Burbank led early in the second game, the Indians surged out in front, 12-11, on a Burbank hitting error. Burroughs increased its advantage to six, 19-13, on another Bulldogs unforced error. The Bulldogs did get to within three of the lead, 24-21, but Burroughs closed out the game on a kill from Danielle Ryan.
“We really didn’t come out with a lot of energy in that first game like we would have liked to,” Cottrell said. “But we played a lot better in that second game and we got in together. …We were able to fight through it.”
Burbank did enjoy a three-point lead in the third game, 8-5. But a Burbank unforced error allowed Burroughs to go in front, 10-9. The Indians played well from that point on and the Bulldogs couldn’t get any closer than three points.
The fourth game saw Burroughs roll to a 17-8 lead following a 9-0 run. Looking to have things in hand, the Indians started making errors of their own. That allowed the Bulldogs to embark on an 8-0 run of and whittle the lead down to one, 18-17. However, the Indians regained the momentum and closed out the game and the match, as well.
“After that first game, it’s just really hard to play with that much energy for an entire match when you’re not used to playing with that much energy on a regular basis,” Burbank Coach Sarah Brown said. “I also thought Burroughs did play better after that first game.”
Allison Tiegs paced Burbank with 12 kills and teammate Denise Daniel added seven. Burbank’s Lily Winn had 19 digs, Ashlyn Edwards added 17 digs and Sara Tredway tallied 28 assists.