Burroughs clinches 2nd place in the Pacific League with a 4-set win over Crescenta Valley

The John Burroughs Bears clinched a 2nd place finish in the Pacific League by beating the Crescenta Valley Falcons in 4 sets (19-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-19) with Gavin Arnold recording a match-sealing kill to propel the Bears to victory over the Falcons. Crescenta Valley was coming off a 4-set loss to Arcadia on Tuesday, April, 16th (13-25, 21-25, 30-28, 23-25) while Burroughs came off a 3-set victory over Glendale. In the last meeting between Burroughs and CV, the Bears came out victorious with a 4-set victory back on Friday, March 29th (25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 26-24). The four seniors Micah Stevens, Isaac Hernandez, Gavin Arnold, Charlie Gerard, and Henry Carlin played in their final Pacific League home game in their high school careers.

In the opening set, Benji Ly, Benjamin Hart, and Gavin Arnold all had kills to start the game for both teams. Both the Bears and Falcons traded away points the next 4 possessions until Aubrey Peterson recorded a block to tie the score at 4. Sena Hunter had back-to-back kills to put the Falcons in front by one before Ryder Tafoya tied the score at 7. Crescenta Valley had momentum in the later stages of the set with Logan Freemon recording kills to give the Falcons a 17-15 lead and then a 22-18 lead. Crescenta Valley would hold on to take the opening set by the final of 25-19.

The Bears and Falcons picked up where they left off in the opening set by trading off points with Ben Hart recording a kill to start set 2. Gavin Arnold had 2 kills to start the 2nd set. Benji Ly had a block and 3 kills which included a set-ending kill to even up the series with Crescenta Valley. The Bears continued to have momentum in the last 2 sets by taking sets 3 and 4 with Gavin Arnold recording both game-ending kills in both games to help the Bears to a 4-set victory.

“I’m proud of their response, we came out flat for unknown reasons but we responded well in the second set,” said Bears coach Joel Brinton. Brinton said that the 4 seniors in Stevens, Hernandez, Arnold, Gerard, and Carlin put in a lot of time and hours with the Burroughs boys volleyball program when asked about what they’ve meant to the program for the last 4 years.

Burroughs finishes the 2024 season with a 24-9 overall record and an 8-2 record in Pacific League play while Crescenta Valley finishes with a 25-11 overall record and a 6-4 record in Pacific League play. Both teams will find out their CIF Southern Section opponent on Saturday, April 20th, at 11 a.m.