Burroughs High boys’ volleyball holds off upstart Crescenta Valley

BURBANK — Crescenta Valley High was the latest squad trying to derail the Pacific League juggernaut that is the Burroughs boys’ volleyball team this season.

In Thursday’s league match, the Falcons were attempting to become the first squad to upend the Indians and only the second to even earn a game off of Burroughs.

Unfortunately for the Crescenta Valley, it was not able to accomplish either.

PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley boys’ volleyball derails Burroughs

Using a balanced offensive attack, the Indians were able to roll to a 25-21, 25-19, 25-17 win in front of their home crowd.

Burroughs (17-4, 11-0 in league), which is ranked No. 9 in the latest CIF Southern Section Division II poll, has been able to steamroll through the league this season, earning three-game sweeps in all but one of its contests in notching its fifth straight Pacific League championship.

The Indians had already earned their fourth consecutive title with a victory Wednesday against Glendale, but many of the players were unaware of the accomplishment.

“We hadn’t even talked about a league championship,” said Burroughs Coach Joel Brinton, who has been at the helm for all four titles. “Before tonight most of the guys had no idea that we had even won the league. A couple of guys figured it out, but they didn’t say anything.

“They have just had a great mentality this season of just concentrating on the next game, then the next game, then the next game. So, until right now, right after the game, until we told them we’re league champs most of them had no clue.”

Heading into the final match of the season, a Tuesday home contest with Claremont, Burroughs has a three-match cushion over second-place Burbank (8-3 in league).

Crescenta Valley (15-10. 7-4), which is currently in third place, ends its league campaign Tuesday with a home match against Arcadia.

The Indians were able to handle the Falcons by using a balanced offensive approach. Tristin Martin led the team in kills with nine and was followed by Max Chamberlian, Nick Van Loo (four aces) and Dalton Burroughs, who had six apiece. Ryan Van Loo contributed 25 assists and Danny Casillas had six digs.

Despite dropping the match in straight games, Crescenta Valley Coach John Nelson said his team played with an enthusiasm that he was happy with.

“Everybody today kind of stepped up for us, which was kind of nice to see,” said Nelson, who received a team-high 12 kills from Raymond Barsemian and seven from Min Kim. “I was really happy with the way our guys played. They could have come out and not fought like the way that they did.

“A couple of points here and there for us, and it could have been a different story.”

The most competitive game was the first, as Crescenta Valley jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Burroughs came back, however, to score four straight points and take a 4-3 advantage. The Indians maintained the lead until the Falcons surged in front, 8-7, on a Burroughs hitting error. But the Indians eventually wrestled the lead back at 12-11 and maintained the advantage.

Burroughs extended its lead to four twice in the opener, the last coming at 15-11.

After an early Falcons lead in the second, the Indians went ahead, 12-11, and never trailed thereafter.

The Indians were most dominant in the third game, leading from wire to wire.

“Now, we want to end the season and be undefeated in league,” Chamberlian said. “That is a goal we set at the beginning of the season and it’s something that we think we can accomplish.”

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Follow Jeff Tully on Twitter: @jefftsports.