By Rick Assad
There was one stretch late in the second set when the Burroughs High boys’ volleyball team stumbled against host Burbank, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of a well-played Pacific League match.
Behind the play of Benji Ly, Charlie Gerard, Ryder Tafoya and Henry Carlin, the Bears stifled the Bulldogs 25-11, 25-22, 25-16 on Thursday night.
“The guys did a nice job responding to adversity. Losing our setter [Caiden Shrode] early in the second to an injury definitely caused us to have to mix up the lineup and do some things we haven’t practiced, but the guys did some good things,” Burroughs coach Joel Brinton said.
Trailing 23-15, Burbank went to work after scoring the next six straight points to claw back to within 23-21.
Sam Jurman’s block sliced the advantage to 23-17 and a kill from Ryan Viyar made it 23-19 and Viyar’s dagger saw the Bulldogs trim the lead to 23-20.
When Gerard’s hit sailed out of bounds that lowered the margin to 23-21, and the Bears needed a stoppage in time.
Theo Thorossian played extremely well for the Bulldogs as he scored and also set the defensive rhythm.
Burroughs gathered itself as Gerard added a kill for a 24-21 lead and when Ian Villaflor’s attempt hit the net, the second game went to the visitors.
Burbank held a 3-1 lead in the second game on a stuff from Jordan Ribas, but Burroughs sprinted ahead 5-4 on a co-block from Gavin Arnold and Ly.
The Bears then outscored the Bulldogs 7-5 and led 12-9 on a kill from Ly.
Ly added a push to make it 13-9 and Ly contributed a spike to make it 14-10.
Ly’s kill increased the cushion to 17-10 and Tafoya’s winner made it 18-12.
Arnold’s hammer made it 19-13 and when Arnold and Carlin collected a co-stuff, it was 20-13.
Gerard’s kill made it 22-15 and Carlin’s tapper saw the Bears forge ahead 23-15.
“I thought for the second set, our energy and sense of urgency was there,” Burbank coach Brandon Villaflor said. “Our execution of siding out was great, and we were able to carry our momentum point for point.”
In the clinching game, Burroughs assumed a 3-0 lead on a push from Ly and 4-2 and 5-2 on kills from Ly.
Gerard’s push made it 9-6 and Nathan Spratt’s block pushed it to 11-7. Kills from Tafoya increased the advantage to 12-8 and Carlin’s spike made it 14-8.
“Ryder Tafoya was outstanding and set the tone for us,” Brinton said. “He played fantastic. Also, Nathan Kameya made some great adjustments defensively and set the tone on our serve receive.”
Ly’s blast saw the Bears (6-4 and 1-0 in league) move ahead 17-10 and when Gerard added a push to make it 19-12, the Bulldogs (1-6 and 0-1 in league) asked for time out.
Gerard had a block that made it 20-12 while Carlin’s and Spratt’s co-stuff increased the lead to 21-12.
Burroughs’ margin became 23-13 on a kill from Gerard and the set and match was claimed on Tafoya’s kill.
The first game saw the Bears sprint to a 4-2 lead on a co-stuff from Arnold and Noah Duffield, and led 6-5 on a kill from Arnold, but the Bulldogs evened it at 8-8 on a winner from Jurman.
From there, Burroughs outscored Burbank 14-1 and led 22-9 as Tafoya added a winner to make it 11-9 and Tafoya tossed in a spike to make it 14-9.
Tafoya’s kill increased the lead to 16-9 as the Bulldogs needed a time out. Gerard’s ace made it 17-9 and Ly’s blast pushed it to 18-9.
It became 21-9 on Ly’s slam and 23-10 on Ly’s kill. When a hit from Ribas went out of bounds, the set was over.
