Something had to give Wednesday night as East Union, winners of four straight matches, traveled across town to take on a Manteca Buffaloes team that came into the match winners of six in a row.
The Buffaloes rode strong play at the net from Trinity Todd and Taimane Tu'uga to cruise 25-11, 25-13, and 25-23 and remain just one match behind first-place Sierra in the Valley Oak League loss column.
“We have really got things going since that heartbreaker against Sierra,” Manteca head coach Robin Chandler said. “I thought we were really good at times tonight but have some things to work on in practice the rest of the week. The schedule has been so packed we have just been playing games, and when that happens there’s a real need to get back to basics.”
Manteca (3-1 VOL, 10-3 overall) looked every bit the side that has on a tear since dropping a five-set heartbreaker at Sierra on Aug. 31 in the first set as Todd racked up six of her match-high 14 kills in the opener as Manteca pulled away to win 25-11. The Buffaloes looked to finish the set strong after outside hitter Ariceli McBroom went down with an ankle injury early on.
“Celi is a huge part of this team and we all hope she is going to be OK,” Todd said. “We knew that if we were going to be able to win without her, everyone needed to step it up a notch, and we were able to do that.”
The Lancers (2-2, 8-4) struggled to get going, an issue that hadn’t been plaguing head coach Tevani Liotard’s squad during their own stretch of success on the court. The second set saw the Lancers commit four service errors and struggle to get its hitters in good spot as they fell down 2-0 after a 25-13 second set.
“Everything just seemed harder for us tonight.” Liotard said. “There wasn’t a ton of bump, set, spike going on out there from our side, and honestly, that is probably the difference in the match. They got their girls going, and we just couldn’t do it.”
Manteca was able to get themselves going offensively in large part due to great passing from junior setter Katie Anderson (24 assists). Anderson spread the ball around to Todd, Tu'uga (12 kills), and Arvein Pabla (four kills) putting pressure on the Lancers defensively during all three sets.
“Katie was great tonight,” Chandler said. “We are really hard on her and it’s a tough position to play but you can tell these girls are gelling together and she was a big reason why points came easier for us in the match.”
East Union came alive in the third set jumping out to a 9-6 lead over the Buffaloes thanks to kills from Lilyan Frye (six kills) and Camille Christensen (four kills). Manteca would battle back, but with the Buffaloes trailing 23-22, Chandler took a timeout to talk it over with her team.
“Coach just told us to relax,” Todd said. “We knew what had happened in the Sierra match where we were up 2-0 and lost so we knew how important it was to finish that set strong.
Manteca finished the set strong, getting three consecutive points, the last of which being a kill from Todd to complete the victory, 25-23.
For East Union, a short memory will be needed, as it heads to Lathrop on Thursday to face the Spartans in non-conference play.
“We’ll need to be better here moving forward,” Liotard said. “Throw this one out and get back to doing the things that had proven successful for us the past few weeks.”
Manteca will get back at it at home against Oakdale on Monday at 6:30.
