By Rick Assad
When the Burbank High girls’ volleyball team and visiting Glendale divided the first two sets on Tuesday afternoon, the Crest League match was up for grabs.
Across the third and fourth sets, the Bulldogs poured it on and pushed aside the Nitros 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-11.
Sabrina Sullivan is Burbank’s first-year head coach and liked the last two games.
“I think that the deciding factor in sets three and fourth was how we found ways to put the ball away,” she said. “We’re finally starting to click offensively and really spread the sets around.”
In the fourth game, Burbank bolted to a 5-1 advantage on an ace from sophomore Emrson Chong.
Sophomore Samantha Yosh’s kill made it 9-2 and Yosh’s push increased the cushion to 11-5.
Yosh wasn’t done as she added an ace that made it 16-5 and Yosh’s service winner extended the margin to 20-5.
Chong’s spike made it 21-5 and when Chong added a kill the Burbank lead became 22-6.
Chong’s winner made it 24-6 but the Nitros scored the next four points including an ace from Ani Vardanian that sliced the margin to 24-10.
But the Bulldogs (11-14-3 and 5-1-1 in league) were feisty and determined and much better than they’ve been recently as they captured the set and match when Chong contributed a spike.
Chong’s kill in the third set made it 4-3 in favor of the Bulldogs and a push from Yost saw Burbank pull ahead 6-3.
Junior Natalie Eguiazarian’s tapper increased the advantage to 9-7, and Yosh’s service ace made it 12-8.
Chong’s winner made it 13-10 and Gabriella Jarrah made it 16-12. The Nitros went on a 8-1 surge and led 20-17.
The Bulldogs mounted a counterattack and tied it at 22-22 on a kill from Yosh.
Chong’s spike made it 24-23 in Burbank’s favor and Glendale’s Harmony Cawit’s hitting error handed the Bulldogs two games to one lead.
At this point in the match, Burbank was in command, but it’s always difficult to put away a team because they are trying to keep the match close. A victory in the fourth set would mean that a fifth and deciding set was necessary, but of course it wasn’t.
The first game was deadlocked at 2-2 on a kill from Yosh, but the Bulldogs outscored the visitors 7-0 and led 9-2.
Key points were tallied by sophomore Hailey Kim’s ace that made it 3-2 and Chong added two kills that made it 4-2 and 5-2.
Eguiazarian tossed in a block that made it 6-2 and Yosh added a spike for a 9-2 margin.
Yosh’s kill extended the Burbank margin to 13-7 and a winner from Kim made it 16-9. Chong’s laser increased the advantage to 17-9.
When Kim added an ace, Burbank marched ahead 20-12 and Yosh’s bullet saw the Bulldogs pull in front 23-18.
The set went to Burbank on a service miscue from Yeva Sassounian.
The second game was tied at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 on a push from Glendale’s Anais Mandzchilyan and 4-4 early on.
Cawit’s tapper made it 10-8 in favor of the Nitros (4-3-1 and 3-3-1 in league) and it was nip and tuck as the set as tied at 20-20 on a kill from Cawit.
Jarrah’s hitting mistake saw Glendale pull ahead 24-22 and a push from Rebekah Cruz witnessed he match tied at one game apiece.
