Manteca withstood a ferocious eight-point service run by East Union’s Keenan Yang in the second set Wednesday night and went on to sweep the host Lancers 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 in Valley Oak League boys volleyball action at Dalben Center.
“They kept us on our toes,” Buffaloes coach Jennifer Reis said. “They are a good team, and they can get some runs just like any good team. We know a lot of those guys from club, and we know they will battle to the end, for sure.
“What I like about our team is we have different nights where someone steps up. Rob (Hevener) in the middle had a really big night hitting for us, Jesus (Gomez) did well in the front and exploded at the service line and Daylen (Cheng) played a good game, as well. I just like it because it is always next guy up.”
Gomez pounded out 12 kills and seven digs for Manteca (9-1 VOL, 19-7 overall).
“An outside plays defense and offense and has to help the team out wherever he can,” Gomez said.
Hevener added eight kills, two digs, a block and an ace.
“It was definitely a game we wanted to win especially after the loss to Mountain House the other day,” Hevener said. “So, I just wanted to get it back.
“It was a fun day against a lot of my club teammates and people I know.”
Manteca’s Mark Bondoc dished out 22 assists and tallied seven digs with two kills.
“I was having some trouble keeping it consistent,” Bondoc said. “I just remembered that my coach told me to stick with fundamentals of getting the ball up and giving our hitters some time.
“It’s volleyball. We’re human and we make mistakes, and I just kept pushing.”
In addition to his prowess at the service line, Yang hustled for 17 digs for East Union (6-5, 10-8). Gabriel Estabillo added nine kills, Guadalupe Reyes seven kills, Xavier Gaspar seven digs with 14 assists, three digs, and two aces for Marvin Menor and Isaac Serrato added 11 assists.
“I just told the guys to stick to the basics and play our game and believe in themselves,” Lancers coach Tevani Liotard said. “You could kind of see that in their play tonight. Everyone was doing well.
“I think Manteca saw that we came to play tonight. We may be 6-4, but we did come to play.”
The Buffaloes travel to Oakdale tonight at 6 to and next Wednesday at 6 p.m. East Union hosts Sierra.
Junior varsity
Manteca 2, East Union 0
The back row of Endrei Tuddao, Ryan Mu and Andrew Woodruff led the Buffaloes to a 25-21, 25-16 sweep with their prowess in the serve-receive game.
Manteca’s Nikko Juares and Azan D’Anna posted seven kills apiece and Eli Navarro dished out 18 assists.
Kaleo Alviar tallied four digs and three assists for the Lancers. Urijah Lopez added six digs, Jacob Ramirez three digs, Gunnar Fay three blocks and Alex Madrigal four assists.
