Coach Jenny Reis liked the depth on her team coming into the season, and it has served the Buffaloes’ well as they prepare for their big Valley Oak League showdown with Mountain House tonight.

Romriell taken on an elevated role in recent weeks, as third-year standout Jesus Gomez missed four straight matches with a hand injury. Gomez did return last Friday for a sweep of cross-town foe East Union on senior night, but it was again Romriell leading the attack.

“Watching Jesus the past two, three years, I know he’s a key player for us, so since we lost him to his hand, I’ve had to step up a lot more,” Romriell said. “I feel like I’m doing a good job at it right now.”

Romriell has either shared the team lead or was the outright leader in kills in five consecutive matches, racking up double-digit totals in the last four.

The run started on April 1, when he led Manteca’s five-run win over Sierra. The 5-foot-11 junior outside hitter not only tallied a varsity career-high 14 kills in the win, but picked up 12 digs for a double-double. Additionally, three of his five service points were aces.

Freshman setter Chandler Harris continued to feed the hot hand, from there. Romriell doled out 13 kills in each of the next three contests — all sweeps against Pleasant Grove, Patterson and East Union.

“I’m just trying to be more consistent for my team,” Romriell said. “When I’m in the back row or the front row, I just try to get the ball to my setter so we can run the middles. If we’re out of system or the ball is off, I’m just trying to play it in, maybe get high hands on the ball so we can get a kill off of it.”

Manteca (8-1, 19-4 overall) has a chance to move into a first-place tie in the VOL tonight at Mountain House (9-0, 20-6). The previous matchup was won by the Mustangs in five sets.