STOCKTON — For the second time in as many nights, the Manteca boys volleyball team knocked off an undefeated Valley Oak League foe on the road to claim sole possession of first place, sweeping host Weston Ranch 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 on Thursday. 

The Buffaloes also swept past Kimball in Tracy on Wednesday, improving to 4-0 in league and 8-2 overall.

“They’re a good team,” Buffaloes coach Kevin Bolding said. “And this was after being at Kimball on Wednesday – and they’re a good team, too.

“Both of those teams were undefeated coming in, they are both very good teams that can play. We are going to see both of them again. We can’t let up. We have to come ready each night out, and hopefully keep going what we have going.”

Rovick Hombrebueno came off the bench in the third set and joined Johnny Borres in making big plays down the stretch to ensure Manteca got the sweep. 

“Johnny Borres has been solid for us,” Bolding said. “He made some great plays – some smart plays – at crucial times.

“Rovick came in and did a great job serving and passing at the end and that kept us going.”

Cameron Reis was dominant at the net for the Buffaloes, racking up eight kills and three blocks.

“You play off your teammates and when your teammates are on you’re on. When they’re helping you then you have to be there to make the plays.” 

Oswaldo Garcia chipped in two aces and five kills for Manteca.  

“I was just having a good night,” Garcia said. “My teammates made good passes and I was able to capitalize on them.”

Kylan Chandler chipped in nine kills for the Buffaloes and Armondo Martinez had six kills.

“It was a good night for us,” Chandler said. “We had a lot of good sets and I had a lot of opportunities. 

“But they had a pretty hard block a few times.”

Kenneth Cha paced the Cougars attack with six kills and three aces. Armando Mendoza added four kills, two blocks and two aces and Ryan Nepomuceno had seven kills. 

Although Weston Ranch (4-1, 9-4) kept it close throughout, the Cougars kept making key mistakes that stopped them from mounting a consistent attack.

“We beat ourselves tonight,” Weston Ranch coach Debi Chavez said. “We had at least 10 unforced errors in each game and we lost each game by less than 10 points. 

“We have to clean it up.”