Manteca ran away with a first-set win of 25-14 Wednesday over visiting East Union before the Lancers made the next two sets much more interesting, but it was not enough, as the Buffaloes swept with 25-18, 25-20 wins in the last two sets of the boys Valley Oak League volleyball match.
“Volleyball is a strange game of momentum,” Manteca coach Jennifer Reis said. “We had runs of nine and we gave up runs of nine.
“It was great with how our guys responded. It would have been easy to let that last one go, but we finished it out.”
Jesus Gomez led the attack from the front and the back lines for the Buffaloes (4-0, 11-4 overall) with 11 kills, 10 digs and two blocks.
“As an outside hitter, that’s what you want to do,” Gomez said “You want to help where you can both ways on offense and defense.
“It’s good the way we work as a team and cover each other.”
Manteca’s Mark Bondoc dished out 27 assists with seven digs and two aces.
“There were a lot of people on the other team from my travel ball team,” Bondoc said. “It was fun playing against them, and I can’t wait to see them again in the summer.”
Robert Hevener tallied 11 kills, two blocks and two digs for the Buffaloes with six digs and two aces for Alex Khizeran.
Marvin Menor jumped into setter duties for East Union (3-2, 7-4) in the second and third sets.
“That first game was kind of like a warm-up,” Lancers coach Tevani Liotard said. “The butterflies were out, and we were nervous. In the second and third games, I shook up the whole lineup and put in Marvin (Menor) at setter. He told me he wasn’t warm, and I told him we were doing it. I think he played really well. I am proud how he went in cold turkey and worked his heart out. Marvin has not set since the third week of the season.
“I was talking to the team about how we drove the bus, stopped at the rest stop, they got a few more points, we got back in the bus and drove a little bit more. It was a journey, and we are not taking that journey to play the whole game. Kudos to Manteca for never stopping and making all the effort to keep the ball alive.”
East Union’s Guadalupe Reyes (five assists, block, two service points) and Jacob Padilla (two blocks) made six kills apiece with nine service points, two aces, nine assists and three digs for Isaac Serrato and four kills, three digs, and two service points for Gabe Estabillo.
Tuesday at 6 p.m. the Lancers travel to Sierra and Manteca hosts Oakdale.
Junior varsity
Manteca 2, East Union 0
Adam Cuevas helped serve the way to victory for the Buffaloes in a 25-23, 25-17 sweep.
Trailing 12-6 in the second set, Cuevas reeled off 11 consecutive service points behind four aces to turn the set around for Manteca.
In his first game as libero, Andrew Woodruff hustled for 19 digs for the Buffaloes. Nikko Juarez and Joseph Atalig added five kills apiece.
Oliver Desjardins (two kills) and Alex Madrigal dished out five assists apiece for the Lancers. Aaron Andrade tallied two aces and Urijah Lopez 11 digs.
