In what turned out to be a classic 8-9 playoff matchup Wednesday night, ninth-seeded Antelope eked out a thrilling 25-18, 24-26, 17-25, 25-20, 16-14 win over No. 8 Manteca in opening-round action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II boys volleyball playoffs at Manteca High.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Buffaloes (21-9) fell behind 14-10 but battled back to 14-14 thanks in part to the defense of Donovan Morse (two blocks, four digs) and Jesus Gomez (23 kills, 13 digs, two blocks, three aces). Unfortunately for Manteca, the Titans (19-14) got the benefit of a pair of close calls – as they had down the stretch – over the next two points and escaped with the 16-14 win in the fifth set.
“It is a battle in the playoffs,” Gomez said. “Our team cares so much about it and responded great.
“It was nice to see the young sophomores step up when we needed it.”
The Buffaloes fell behind early in that fifth set and trailed 11-7 before mounting their comeback.
“I challenged the boys to never stop,” Manteca coach Jenifer Reis said. “We have worked so hard together as a team, and I just didn’t want us to go down without a fight, and our boys fought to the bitter end, and I am very proud of them for doing so.”
“The hardest thing for us is to graduate our setter Mark Bondoc. He has been the glue that kept us together the last two years. That leaves us a big hole to fill.”
Bondoc racked up 37 assists along with 23 digs and 10 kills.
“I am excited to see the next person to step up and fill my spot and my role,” Bondoc said. “Eli Navarro, Adam Cuevas, maybe Raclif Figueroa all put in the work and want to set in practice.
“I may be 1,000 miles away, but I will still be watching on Hudl.”
As a team, Manteca amassed 85 digs. In addition to Gomez and Bondoc, three other players tallied double-digit digs – Logan Romriell (three kills, block) posted 19 digs, Alex Khiseran 17 and Figueroa 12. Robert Hevener chipped in eight kills, three blocks, an ace and a dig.
Antelope’s reward for winning Wednesday will be a trip to Loomis on Friday night at 6 to face No. 1 Del Oro.
“Manteca is an amazing team,” Titans coach Gabe Elmore said. “We are both young. We only have three seniors, and they look like they only have a couple. This is going to be a rivalry for years.
“They are a fun team to play. They play an amazing offense. What it came down to is we made one more play in the last set.”
