An early one-game deficit wasn’t an obstacle for the Burroughs High girls’ volleyball team Thursday night at home against city rival Burbank.
Rebounding from that initial set, the Indians captured the next three and the Pacific League match, 22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16.
The second game was crucial for the Indians because the final result could have swung in Burbank’s favor.
“We always want to play under control,” Burroughs coach Edwin Real said. “We don’t want to panic when we lose a game. Burbank came out with high energy in the first game like we knew they would.”
Real added: “We know teams are going to play us hard, but we can’t let that bother us. We just have to go back at it.”
The game was tied 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 before the Bulldogs moved ahead 6-3 on a tapper from junior outside hitter Melissa Daniel.
Burbank (10-5-1 and 4-3 in league) extended its advantage to 10-5 on a service ace from senior libero Carly Palmisano.
Slowly the Indians chipped away and caught the Bulldogs at 11-11 on a combined block from junior outside hitter Marin Grote and senior middle blocker Caleigh Paster.
Burroughs seized control 13-11 with a winner from Paster, who finished with seven kills.
It was deadlocked at 13-13 on a kill from Burbank junior opposite hitter Suzy Torosyan.
The Indians (12-3 and 5-1 in league) won the next seven points and led 20-13 on Grote’s stuff and pulled ahead 23-16 on Grote’s ace.
“I didn’t play very well in the first game,” admitted Grote, who had a match-best 10 kills. “I don’t think it was nerves. I wanted to get it out of my system. It seems like we always start off a little slow.”
Grote went on: “We want to play it one point at a time and not worry about the score. We never want to panic even if we’re behind.”
The Bulldogs took three of the next five points, but still lost the game and the match was even.
“We had too many service errors and when the other side is so strong, it’s going to be hard to win,” Burbank coach Karl Rojo said. “We just had a tough time taking control even though we won the first game.”
The third game saw the Indians skip out to a 7-2 lead on junior opposite hitter Ricki Patenaude’s slam.
Burroughs bolted in front 10-4 on senior libero Cesera Suarez’s ace. It became 15-8 on Grote’s tapper and 18-10 on Grote’s kill.
The advantage swelled to 21-12 on Patenaude’s smash and the Indians closed out the sesssion with a 4-3 run that was capped off with a blast from Paster for the game.
The final frame was even at 1-1, 3-3 and 5-5 before Burroughs assumed a 9-6 lead on Suarez’s ace.
It swelled to 13-8 on junior setter Lauren Zedlar’s service winner and 16-9 on Paster’s rocket.
Burroughs maintained a comfortable cushion and pulled ahead 20-13 on sophomore setter/opposite hitter Shea McCovern’s dagger.
From this point, the Indians took five of the next eight points for the game and match including Zedlar’s ace.
The initial stanza was even at 2-2 and 3-3 before the Bulldogs forged a 7-3 advantage on senior outside hitter Hailey Heath’s back-to-back service aces.
“The effort was there, but we made too many mistakes,” Heath said. “But we can’t worry about those things. We played hard and the effort was there, but there were points that we should have won, but didn’t.”
Heath continued: “For me, I can’t concern myself with mistakes, even though you’re going to make them. I’d rather concentrate on a real good dig or a real good hit than worry about a service mistake.”
Burbank moved in front 10-7 on Daniel’s kill and it became 12-9 on Torosyan’s ace.
Burbank senior opposite hitter Rachel Wiley was productive.
“I think that we need to be a little more mentally tough,” she said. “We can’t dwell on the mistakes. We played a great first game, but we couldn’t keep it up.”
A kill from senior middle blocker Nicole Winters provided the Bulldogs with a 13-11 cushion, but the Indians evened it at 14-14 and eventually 18-18 on a service winner from Zedlar.
It became 21-21 on a combined stuff from Grote and sophomore middle blocker Juliana Van Loo, who chimed in with eight kills.
Burbank took four of the next five points including the game winner on senior setter Hannah Porter’s ace.
These two will meet once again on Oct. 25 at Burbank with a 6 p.m. start.
