Manteca’s Eli Navarro helped set the tone for the Buffaloes’ senior night Friday, erupting for a nine-point service run in the middle of the first set won 25-15 against visiting East Union. After that, the biggest Lancers lead was 9-7 in the second set with Manteca winning the final two sets 25-20 and 25-23 in boys Valley Oak League volleyball action.
“Tonight was all about the seniors,” Buffaloes coach Jennifer Reis said. “We had a really special group of boys.
“All of them have worked super hard, especially Jesus (Gomez) and Rob (Hevener). They committed as freshmen to play club, and it improved them as players. They put in the work and have become really quality players and better people.”
Logan Romriell paced Manteca (8-1 VOL, 19-4 overall) with 15 kills, a block and an ace.
“I feel like I can hit the ball really well thanks to our setter Chandler Harris,” Romriell said. “And if I keep getting those sets I will keep smashing those balls.”
Harris finished with 30 assists, and Gomez added eight kills.
“What a feeling, what a game,” Gomez said. “We had a lot of people show up, it was awesome. Our team has been waiting for our senior night, so we could have fun out there.”
Hevener chipped in four kills and four blocks.
“Being senior night, this was a really big game against a big rival,” Hevener said. “It was definitely a fun night.
“The first set was good, in the second we kind of slowed it down a little bit and we closed it out in the third.”
Raul Carranza tallied 11 digs for the Buffaloes, Eli Navarro added 10 digs, Anthony Abello four kills with three blocks and two kills for Chase Cheng.
Although East Union (3-6, 7-14) got swept, after being thumped in the first set the Lancers bounced back to lose the second set by five points and the third by just two.
“We were just trying to mix some stuff up,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard said. “And the main thing is we have to be able to pass to run an offense, and if you can’t pass, you can’t run an offense.
“Kudos to Manteca, they played a good game, everybody played well over there. We were just chunking it up and not producing like we should have.”
Gabriel Estabillo paced the Lancers with five kills. Jacob Padilla (five digs) and Jon Aspay added four kills each, Javier Sandoval chipped in seven digs and Isaac Serrato dished out 18 assists.
On Monday, East Union hosts Oakdale, and on Wednesday, second-place Manteca travels to Mountain House in a battle for first place with both games at 6 p.m. Currently undefeated in the VOL, the Mustangs handed the Buffaloes their lone league loss on Monday, April 23 in the 3-2 thriller.
