Standing behind the line, Sadie Lomet appeared poised.
It was there where the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball players made significant contributions.
Host Burroughs finished with 27 aces to register a 25-11, 25-23, 24-26, 25-12 nonleague victory against South Hills on Wednesday.
Lomet, a senior middle blocker, recorded a match-high 11 aces to spark Burroughs (5-4) by South Hills (2-3).
“If you’re not performing in other areas, then pick something else that can get you going,” said Lomet, who had five aces in the first set. “Then you try to get on a roll, and your teammates start doing the same thing.
“I just served right at them, and we got the points. It’s a lot of repetition working on serving. I got locked in mentally and knew what I needed to keep doing.”
The Bears, who took fourth in the Pacific League last season, had 12 aces in the first set. They had four in the second set, followed by five and six in the third and fourth sets, respectively.
Veteran Burroughs coach Edwin Real said crisp serving gave the Bears momentum and stymied South Hills, which won the Hacienda League championship last season.
“You get real good serving, you can get quick points and you stop the other team from generating any offense,” said Real, who led Burroughs to seven league titles between 2007-21. “It’s difficult for the other team to get going and that’s a big thing.
“We’re playing good teams, like South Hills and some [L.A.] City Section teams, to get us ready for league and the playoffs. I think we are playing well early on, but we still need to work on some things.”
Lomet, who also collected eight kills, had four straight aces to give the Bears an 8-2 advantage in the first set. The Bears extended the lead to 18-5 on an ace from senior outside hitter Tawnie Ohrt before a kill by senior middle blocker Tara Rauenswinder clinched the first set.
The Huskies regrouped in the second set and played more evenly with the Bears. An ace by Burroughs sophomore setter Savana Lay made it 11-9. South Hills then went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead.
Later in the second set, a kill by Ohrt made it 24-22. The Huskies pulled to within 24-23 before sophomore middle blocker Khloe Pavia finished the second set with a kill to give the Bears a 2-0 lead in games.
In the third set, Burroughs held a 22-16 lead following a kill by freshman outside hitter Zoe Davis. However, South Hills finished up on a 10-2 run. A kill by Alyssa San Angelo wrapped up the third set for the Huskies.
Burroughs raced to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set on an ace from Lomet. Later in the set, an ace from Ohrt (five aces overall) extended the lead to 16-5 before Ohrt sealed the victory with a kill.
