First published in the Sept. 11 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
The John Burroughs High School varsity girls’ volleyball team carried brooms off the court as it swept visiting Crescenta Valley High, 3-0, on Tuesday by scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-22.
The victory kept the Bears (3-0 league record, 7-4 overall) tied with Arcadia atop the Pacific League standings.
The Bears were firing on all cylinders en route to their third consecutive shutout victory. But even if the score doesn’t accurately reflect it, CV never quit and stayed competitive throughout the match.
“We didn’t lose game three. Burroughs won game three,” said Matt Simons, CV’s head coach. “Right now, Burroughs is a little stronger team than us, and we’re happy to be able to compete like that. They showed us what we need to work on.”
The first set was lopsided, as Burroughs attacked the box to earn a 25-10 victory. Burroughs senior Bella Lomet was a perfect six for six in kill attempts in the first set.
The second set was closer, but not by much as Burroughs cruised to an easy 25-16 victory, capped off by sophomore Tawnie Ohrt’s powerful, unstoppable kill to win the second set. The set also saw back-to-back aces by Burroughs senior Charlotte Hobson to extend the Bears’ lead to 23-15.
The third set was the most exciting of the three. After an early run by Burroughs, CV answered back and took a 6-3 lead. The score remained at a deadlock until an ace by Hobson gave the Bears a 13-12 lead, one Burroughs wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game. CV kept the set within five points, but it wasn’t enough as the Bears clawed out a 25-22 victory.
“I think we all really played as a team; we weren’t playing individually, and overall, every single one of us did our part in the game,” Ohrt said.
Burroughs played an overall solid match. Ohrt had a team-high 13 kills while Lomet followed closely behind with 10. Burroughs senior Heidi Collins tallied seven kills while junior Janessa Wareebor and senior Meghan Lynch had six and one kills, respectively.
Lynch did an excellent job helping set up her team for success as she accumulated 31 assists. Hobson had two assists while Wareebor and junior Kara Aldana-Pere each tallied one.
As a team, Burroughs had 48 digs. Hobson had a team-high 13 digs, followed behind Lynch, Wareebor and Collins, who had 10, nine and six digs, respectively.
CV (8-8 overall, 2-1 in league) is scheduled to host Burbank High School in the Falcons fourth Pacific League match on Friday, Sept. 10, at 4:45 p.m.
The Bears are scheduled to play their second-to-last regular season and league match against Pasadena on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m.
