Coming off a disappointing loss in a Valley Oak League first-place battle at Central Catholic, Manteca coach Robin Chandler wanted to see what kind of fight her team has Thursday when it faced a dangerous East Union squad.

The visiting Buffaloes showed it in every set, falling behind each time before rallying for a 33-31, 25-19, 25-21 sweep at Dalben Center.

“I just wanted to see if they know how to fight back,” Chandler said. “And I just wanted them to play better. They didn’t play great against CC. We still have some work to do, but much better.”

Michaela Singh came through in many clutch moments for Manteca (4-1 VOL, 10-5 overall). She ended the wild opening set with a tip and later clinched game 2 with back-to-back kills. The senior outside hitter finished with a match-high 18 kills, 10 digs and five aces.

“If she’s not playing well, we’re doomed,” Chandler said. “These sets were close tonight, and we needed her to be able to put that ball down.”

Freshman Taimane Tu’uga contributed seven kills, and Izabella Sanchez had six kills and three blocks. Riley Ward and Ava Negranza delivered 16 and 15 assists, respectively. Nicole Ayala led the defense with 17 digs.

East Union (0-5, 10-13) was anchored by Mariela Navarro (11 kills) and Katelyn Trevino (six kills, five blocks) up front. Marcella Carrenza handed out 13 assists, while Laura Montanez had 10.

Navarro got the Lancers going early with three kills that helped them stake a 5-2 lead. They were ahead by as much as five and did not trail until Singh’s kill made it 20-19.

It was back and forth from there, and they traded game-point opportunities in the end. Manteca had five chances to put it away until Singh’s dink finally did the trick. East Union came up empty handed on two set-point situations.

“Definitely needed a lot of energy, and we were staying connected as a team,” Singh said. “We brought ourselves up and made sure we didn’t get down on ourselves.”

Dropping the opening set in that fashion did not dampen the Lancers’ spirits. They surged to a 12-5 lead, but much like the first game Manteca was able to creep back.

Tu’uga went on an eight-point service run that included an ace, two kills from Singh and two kills and a block from Sanchez. The Buffs led 22-17 before East Union’s Ciana Cisneros finally put an end to the barrage with a kill, but momentum fully belonged to the visitors.

“We sire like to dig ourselves a hole, but credit to them, they have some amazing servers and amazing passers,” Chandler said of EU. “They’re very, very scrappy. They might not be super tall, but they’re putting it in the right spots. Definitely a credit to them. They wore us out.”:

East Union once again landed the first blow in the third set, scoring the first three points and taking a 7-3 advantage after a block from Trevino.

Singh and the Buffs took over, as she served seven straight points in a flurry that she ignited with a kill. The Lancers threatened to force a fourth set when leading 20-18 but were outscored 7-1 the rest of the way. Tu’uga helped turn the tide with a pair of kills, and Amil Gaskins registered her only kill of the night with a well-placed cross-court shot.

It was another frustrating result for East Union, which dropped a 17th straight best-of-five match in league play.

“We are growing every game as a team,” EU coach Michelle Sims said. “As coaches, we are just waiting for them to realize what they are all capable of. The power of positivity and hustle, we believe in them, just waiting for them to believe in themselves.

Junior varisty

East Union 2, Manteca 1

The Lancers rallied back from a five-point deficit in the third set to beat their rivals 25-14, 17-25, 15-13.

Ava Barrera led East Union with 10 kills and two blocks. Shebra Rezaye added three kills and two blocks. Gwen Baker finished with 13 digs, and Jocelyn Gonzalez tallied nine service points, two aces and six digs.

Peyton McDonald racked up 10 digs and five kills for Manteca. Arvein Pabla added four kills and three digs. Marissa San Nicolas ended with seven digs and a pair of aces.

Freshman

Manteca 2, East Union 0

Manteca cruised to a 25-17, 25-12 victory behind Na’ima Calderon’s seven aces, four kills and five digs.

Jacqueline Leon also served seven aces and had five digs. Chloe Martin picked up 11 digs, and Maylea Sims netted 11 assists and seven aces.

Kaylee Bruan paced the Lancers with eight digs, seven assists and two aces. Jocelyn Pena had a kill and three aces.