Having participated in the CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoffs for 20 consecutive years under coach Edwin Real, Burroughs High is certainly prepared for tough competition.
Thursday evening in the second round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs the Bears started off strong. But visiting Portola High of Irvine proved in the end that it was too tough, earning a 22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14 victory over Burroughs.
“Their defense was very good. If they’re not blocking the ball, they’re digging the ball. We had a hard time putting the ball away. Normally we find a way to get a kill, but we just couldn’t do that today,” Real said.
One of our goals was just to make the playoffs. We knew we were going up against CV, La Canada and all the good teams. Luckily, we were able to get an at-large bid, but we were also able to take one from CV and La Canada, so we were on a good roll. We got off to a great start, but they got their legs warmed up after being on that bus for a long time.
Burroughs (17-15) did very well in the early going, especially with junior middle blocker Alex Hammeke leading the way. Hammeke had the first kill of the match and one of her blocks helped Burroughs close out the first game. Junior outside hitter Amelia Walsh also was solid in the first game.
Portola (17-9) eventually made some adjustments and showed off its secrets weapons in the middle in junior Rebecca Jeanty and senior Zeynep Arcan.
Jeanty had 12 kills and four blocks. Arcan had eight kills and two blocks.
The visiting Bulldogs took over after the two teams were tied at 7 in the second game. Burroughs looked as if it might get back in the game, but a pair of back-to-back aces from Julia Teijo ended that momentum.
“Once we were able to give our hitters a little more insight, we starting hitting spots and were moving the ball around a little more,” Portola coach Heidi Martasian said. “We knew to expect good things from Burroughs’ middles. We’re a very middle heavy focused team too.”
Burroughs led 10-8 in the third game, before Portola took over.
The Bears held a 3-2 lead in the fourth game, before Portola got the upper hand again.
Hammeke had 11 kills and a pair of blocks for Burroughs. Walsh had eight kills. Zoe Davis and Trinity Taylan each had seven kills.
Portola got nine kills from Ronica Aryanfan.
