Before Crescenta Valley’s Eric Wall dropped the match-winning kill on the Indians’ side, the final game did indeed swing back and forth several times.
The Falcons led, 21-18, on Connor Smith’s kill before Burroughs evened up the game on a 3-0 run. The Indians then took the lead, 23-22, on a dropped ball by the Falcons and had match point moments later, 24-23, on a block.
After knotting the score, Crescenta Valley saw the Indians come one point away from winning the match for the second time, at 25-24, but staved off defeat on a kill by Simon Lee. Crescenta Valley took its first match point on a Burroughs four-touch and made good with Wall’s kill.
Burroughs nearly came back from down as many as seven points late in the first game before leading for all but the first few points of the second game.
Crescenta Valley Blue advanced to the finals with a semifinal win over St. Francis, 25-14, 25-21.
The Golden Knights led, 9-5, early in the first game of that match and still led by four midway through, but saw Crescenta Valley catch up at 17 and take the lead.
St. Francis cut the lead to 22-20 on a kill by Matt Grace before Crescenta Valley went on a game-clinching run, winning it on a Trevor LaFountaine kill.
“We’re not quite in sync,” said St. Francis Coach Mark Frazee, whose team advanced to the semis with a single-game elimination win over Burroughs’ No. 2 squad, 25-21. “I don’t have the middles, because they’re playing football and basketball.”
