By Rick Assad
It took the minimum three sets for the Burroughs High boys’ volleyball team to dispose of host Burbank on Thursday night in a Pacific League match by the scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.
It very likely could have gone four sets and maybe even five had the Bulldogs won the opening frame which looked promising after taking a 13-10 advantage on a kill from sophomore opposite hitter Aidan Casey.
Burbank couldn’t extend the lead as Burroughs (29-6 and 9-0 in league) picked up the pace and pulled ahead by 19-17 on an ace from sophomore outside hitter Noah Duffield and 22-17 on a service winner by senior libero Nathan Kameya.
A kill from senior outside hitter Benji Ly made it 24-20 and Duffield’s spike salted the game away in favor of the Bears.
Joel Brinton has been the Burroughs boys’ varsity volleyball coach for a long time and under his leadership and guidance the teams have flourished.
“We’ve been pretty focused on defense and some offensive options in practice. It was nice to see us get better at those and see our seniors lead,” he said. “We expected some higher errors tonight and that’s okay. We want to work on some things to be ready for the [CIF Southern Section] playoffs.”
The initial game began with the Bulldogs marching ahead 5-1 on sophomore outside hitter Brandon Chong’s service ace.
Burbank (4-12 and 0-9 in league) pulled ahead 9-6 on an ace from junior setter Kaden Moore but a service winner from Kameya evened it at 9-9.
The match clincher commenced with the Bears dashing in front 4-1 on a kill from senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Ryder Tafoya.
Consecutive spikes from Duffield made it 8-5 and 9-5 and back-to-back daggers from Duffield saw Burroughs pull ahead 11-5 and 12-5.
When Ly and junior middle blocker Jack Szaras combined on a block for the Bears, the score became 17-6.
There was no looking back for Burroughs which moved in front 19-12 on a kill from freshman setter Riley Brinton.
Ly’s kill made it 20-15 and it would be 23-19 on a hit from junior outside hitter/opposite hitter Adrian Dubrow.
The Bears took the final two points including a kill from Tafoya that made it 24-21.
Burbank coach Ryan Villaflor encouraged his team, and everything considered his team played as well as they could.
“I thought we started off strong and stayed scrappy throughout the game,” he offered. “Just not enough energy and steam to pull through and force a fourth set.”
The middle set was deadlocked three times early in the fray at 1-1, 3-3 and 4-4 but the Bears took control at 7-5 on a spike from Duffield. It became 8-5 on another Duffield kill and 9-5 on a Duffield stuff.
Duffield’s blast made it 11-7 and Duffield’s service ace saw the Bears race ahead 12-7.
Casey’s winner sliced the advantage to 17-10 but Burroughs took a 20-10 lead on a spike from Tafoya.
Duffield’s dagger made it 22-14 and junior middle blocker/opposite hitter Marco Santiago-Dorn’s block handed the Bears a 24-17 cushion.
The set was made official when Santiago-Dorn and Tafoya combined on a stuff.
