Volleyball: Falcons down Titans in straight sets

When Cody Burton took over the Todd Beamer High School volleyball gig, the Titans had won just two games over three seasons since the pandemic, holding a record of 2-32.

With Burton in his second season, the Titans are right in the middle of a playoff chase with a 7-3 record. Last year the Titans won a total of nine games, the most since 2015.

“Last season it took us to 1-8 to get going… It’s just finding resiliency and mounting adversity. We are still trying to win,” Burton said.

This season Todd Beamer has six games remaining, and that nine game mark is definitely in the sights. For a school that has never made the state tournament in volleyball, Burton seems like the right guy to take them there.

“We are changing our mindset from losers who win, to winners who refuse to lose,” said Burton.

The Titans took a tumble against Kentlake on Oct. 9 in three straight sets, and now are just a half game up on the Falcons in the standings, but do not have the tiebreaker.

“We played a brand new libero tonight. We were trying to adapt to a fast and scrappy Kentlake team,” Burton said.

This was the second matchup between the Falcons and Todd Beamer this year. Earlier on Sept. 11, the two sides went to five sets with the Titans falling 3-2 to Kentlake. With the second match going just three sets, Todd Beamer has some marks to look back and improve on.

“We have to take this tomorrow and identify where our weaknesses are. No one played super different positions, but it was mindsets… We didn’t make good choices tonight. We had more errors than the other team. When you have more errors than the other team, you’re gonna lose,” said Burton.

Kentlake came out swinging in the first set, putting Todd Beamer behind the eight-ball. After scoring the first three points, Todd Beamer reeled the Falcons back to 7-5. But with the score 8-6, the Falcons went on to score six straight points. The Titans showed a little fight late in the set, getting the game to just one point, 21-20. After a Kentlake timeout, the Falcons rode a four-point streak to a first set victory.

Set two saw another massive run for Kentlake. With the score 3-3, the Falcons went on a 9-point run. Todd Beamer never really got back in it and lost 25-10.

Despite trailing by a lot in the first two sets, the Titans put up a fight in set three. With the match tied at 11-11, the Titans were right in the middle of pushing the Falcons to a fourth set. Kentlake rattled off five straight points and separated themselves from Todd Beamer.

The Titans had three JV players playing up with the top squad against Kentlake — Jessica Sidorov, Lauren Williams and Hadassah Leota. They did more than enough to prove they can play despite the loss.

“Any type of touches is positive and important for them,” Burton said.

One mainstay with the Titans is senior Aissata Bangoura. Her presence is heard with the ferocity she spikes the ball with and her voice. The three-time state wrestler has taken a huge step forward as a leader and almost a coach on the floor for Burton.

“She has really come into her own this year… She has really taken the mindset of being a leader not only on the floor, but also off the floor… It has really been nice communicating expectations to a team captain to relay those so I can focus on the coaching. I can focus more on the coaching and she can focus on the culture,” said Burton.

Todd Beamer looks to get back in the win column on Oct. 14 as the Titans travel to Decatur to take on the 1-9 Gators.