Burroughs girls’ volleyball sweeps aside Crescenta Valley
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LA CRESCENTA — There’s a little bit of ground for the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team to make up in its quest to win a second straight Pacific League championship.
Entering Wednesday’s league match at Crescenta Valley, Burroughs trailed Arcadia by one game, though the squads have one more head-to-head meeting.
Looking to not get off track and lose sight of Arcadia, Burroughs turned to an experienced trio to turn aside Crescenta Valley.
Burroughs received 18 kills from Lydia Grote and 12 apiece from Juliana Van Loo and Catie Virtue to record a 25-22, 25-15, 25-15 win and complete the two-game season series sweep of Crescenta Valley.
“We have a little work that we need to do before playing at home against Arcadia next Wednesday,” Burroughs coach Edwin Real said. “We knew we’d get a tough match today from Crescenta Valley and we did.
“We had to work very hard to get the first set. It was up and down and the goal is to get to 20 points first so we know where we are the rest of the set. It’s great when you can pit Lydia and Juliana at opposite sides of the court, but we had a lot of people step up big.”
Burroughs (10-3, 9-1 in league) posted a 25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16 victory against Crescenta Valley (11-8, 7-3) in the first match Sept. 4 at Burroughs.
In the first set Wednesday, Crescenta Valley took an 18-16 lead on an ace from Jamie Santos. Burroughs closed out on a 9-4 run, getting two kills each from Van Loo and Virtue and one from Grote in the stretch.
“It was very important to win that first set,” said Van Loo, a senior opposite hitter and reigning All-Area second-team pick. “It was close and we were able to get that game and the momentum carried over the next two sets.
“I think we have kept improving since we played Arcadia the first time and we know we’ll have to keep it up the rest of the way if we want to win league.”
The Indians built a 7-3 lead in the second set, capped by a kill from Grote. Another kill by Grote later in the set extended the lead to 16-11. The Falcons couldn’t get no closer than 17-13 before the Indians finished on a 8-2 run. Virtue, a sophomore outside hitter, closed out the second set with a kill.
Burroughs raced to a 7-1 lead in the third set, highlighted by a pair of aces from Shea McGovern. Grote, a junior, had a kill down the middle to make it 19-14. Burroughs’ experience showed again late in the third set, as it closed out on a 7-1 run.
“We’ve got a younger team and we were disappointed in not winning the first set,” Crescenta Valley first-year coach Matt Simons said. “It was hard to bounce back and you could see the Burroughs players being used to high-pressure situations and that they don’t panic.
“I liked the way we played in that first set and we have a lot of positive energy surrounding our team.”
Crescenta Valley got eight kills from senior outside hitter Teny Noordermeer, seven from senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Karsten and 15 assists from senior setter Maddie Bolhm.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
