"They put our backs against the wall, but our girls were out there trying to come back," Burroughs Coach Edwin Real said. "We came in with a game plan and we were having some problems in that first game. But once we got things figured out, it started working for us."
In the fifth game, the Indians fell behind, 14-9, as the Apaches were one point away from wrapping up the contest. But Burroughs mounted a spirited comeback, and when Arcadia was called for a double, the score was tied at 14.
The Indians then forced game-point, 15-14, following a kill by Nicole Encarnacion. But the Apaches came right back, blocking the ball at the net to knot the score at 15.
On the subsequent Arcadia serve, the ball was hit long and again the Indians were on the verge of the close-out point, 17-16, before Arcadia got another kill to again tie the contest.
The Indians then staved off elimination at 18-17 when Arcadia committed a service error. However, a Burroughs service error put the Apaches in front, 19-18, and a kill by Lexi Mueller ended the Indians' hopes.
Mueller had six of her 13 kills in the fifth game.
"We knew this was for the league championship," Mueller said. "We knew we had to play our hardest and we had to leave everything out there. I'm so proud of my team."
Burroughs received nine kills from Katie Rutecki and eight from Autumn Kanoho.
Along with the fifth, the fourth game provided its share of drama as well. Burroughs enjoyed a 13-8 lead before Arcadia embarked on a 6-0 run to take a 14-13 advantage. The Apaches maintained the lead and looked to win the contest with a 24-22 cushion. But two Arcadia errors allowed the Indians to even things up at 24. Burroughs won the game with two consecutive kills to force the fifth game.
"We tried to do a couple of things differently this time," said Real, whose squad was swept by Arcadia on Sept. 27. "They are a good team and they play good defense."
Burroughs got off to a rough start in the first game, but battled back to snatch the momentum of the contest with a strong showing in the second game.
