The Manteca Buffaloes moved to 4-1 in Valley Oak League play Thursday night with a straight-set victory over a very game East Union squad 26-24, 25-22, and 25-19 at the new small gym on the campus of the Lancers.
“We knew tonight was going to be a tough match and sure enough they came out here and made things difficult for us,” Manteca head coach Jennifer Reis said. “These were tightly contested sets with really good rallies we are just happy to come out of here with a victory.
The Buffaloes (4-1 VOL, 11-3 overall) came into the contest with East Union (2-3, 6-10) just a five-set loss against first place Mountain House away from being undefeated in league play. The Lancers came in on a two-match losing streak after starting VOL play with back-to-back wins over Central Catholic and Oakdale.
As is the case with most East Union and Manteca contests regardless of sport, records and recent run of form mean very little as each side brings a little extra facing the other.
“I am so proud of the way these boys battled tonight,” East Union head coach Tevani Liotard said. “We played hard from the start and competed from the first whistle against a really good team, and as a coach, you can’t ask for much more than that.”
It looked early on like it might be a long night for the Lancers, as Manteca jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first set led by outside hitter Jesus Gomez (17 kills). East Union outside hitter Gabriel Estabillo (17 kills) and the rest of the Lancers squad had other ideas however as they battled back to make it 24-24 forcing Manteca to take a timeout.
The Buffaloes responded to whatever Reis said during the break, getting a kill from middle blocker Rob Hevener (eight kills) and a block from Donovan Morse to close out the first set 26-24 for the visitors.
“We have a tendency to kind of go through the motions for stretches, and you could see that in the first set,” Reis said. “Most times. it’s just taking a timeout to stop the momentum and remind them to do the little things.”
The depth of both squads was on display in the second set that would be equally as contested as the opener. Lancers outside hitter Jacob Padilla (nine kills) helped East Union keep the score close and the teams were deadlocked 12-12 midway through the pivotal second set.
Manteca showed they were as deep, as junior middle blocker Chase Cheng (10 kills) was the difference propelling Manteca to a 25-22 victory in what was a back-and-forth affair.
“Chase was huge for us tonight.” Reis said. “He plays with so much energy out there, and I think the other guys really feed off of it. It’s hard to see someone working as hard as he does and not want to give your all as well.”
Estabillo would help the Lancers jump out to an early lead in the third before Gomez, Cheng, and Hevener righted the ship for the Buffaloes helping them take control of the set 20-12. Like it had done all night, Liotard’s side would not quit getting back into the set before ultimately dropping the finale 25-19.
“You can’t coach the type of resilience we showed tonight,” Liotard said. “There were so many chances for them to give up so many balls they could have given up on, and they just didn’t, which makes a coach very happy.”
Both squads will turn right back around and compete in the Stockton Classic tournament this weekend before picking back up league play next week.
“We’re looking at this weekend as another change to get better,” Reis said. “You can get a whole week’s worth of games in a short period of time and those reps should really help us as we head down the stretch the rest of the season.”
Junior varsity
Manteca 2, East Union 1
Quintin DeCosta Aldape rapped eight kills, leading the Buffaloes’ 15-25, 25-16, 15-11 comeback victory.
Ethen Sereno and Endrei Tuddao contributed four kills apiece.
