East Union’s volleyball team earned its first win for rookie head coach Rich Posz the hard way.

The Lancers overcame a poor start as well as 23 overall serving errors for a five-game victory over Downey at Dalben Center Thursday. Game scores were: 15-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-12.

Downey set the tone early from service line, as one player toed the stripe for 12 straight points. East Union, now 1-1 in nonleague action, did well to show some fight in the third game and turn the match around. The Lancers took a six-point lead early in Game 3 and were up 23-18 before shutting the door.

“We made it closer for them at the end of (the third game), but we were pretty much in control from that point on,” Posz said.

While East Union had some issues with serving, it also had some bright spots in that aspect. Dani Herrera recorded seven aces, while Jill Costa had six.

Monica King led a balanced attack with seven kills, while Alex Scopas and Alexis Steele turned in five each. Courtney Posz dished out 10 assists, and Carolina Gutierrez had nine.

McNair 3, Weston Ranch 2

Chris Bauer saw improvement from Tuesday’s season-opening defeat, but the Cougars dropped its second match in five games — 25-17, 16-25, 22-25, 28-26, 12-15.

Aoloni Etu and Nikki Rayray had a busy night, producing 30 assists and 34 digs, respectively.

“Nikki was everywhere on the court,” Bauer said.

Candisse Griffin churned out nine kills, Melanie Amen contributed seven and Alma Monge netted four aces.

Ripon Christian 3, Modesto Christian 0

In Ripon, the Knights improved to 2-0 with a dominating sweep (25-19, 25-7, 25-18) of their former Trans-Valley League rival. Ripon Christian enters its third year in the Southern League.

Contributions were evenly spread around.

Andie Shelton paced the attack with seven kills; Teagan Manus hammered seven kills to go with two blocks; Brittany Petlansky swatted six kills and had seven digs on defense; Stephanie Van de Pol recorded seven digs and five aces; Cassidy DeRousse picked up two blocks; and libero Kaylie Colyn collected seven digs.

Tracy 3, Sierra 0

Visiting Sierra was outgunned in its season opener, falling in three sets — 13-25, 13-25, 15-25.

Allie Walljasper led the Timberwolves with four aces and two blocks, while Valerie Nestor added two kills and two blocks.

“We kept up with Tracy and definitely made them fight to win,” Sierra coach Trinity Johnson said. “We just couldn’t finish tonight. Now we know what we need to focus on.”

Sophomore

East Union 2, Downey 0

The Squires had what it took to remain perfect on the young season, handling the visiting Downey Knights 25-17 and 25-18 Thursday in non-league action.

Destiny Flores had five aces and three kills, while Estafany Jaurqui pulled out seven digs. Sabrina Hernandez also chipped in with four digs.

Tracy 2, Sierra 0

Danielle Parham was Sierra’s top player, finishing with two kills and six digs. Kristen Maestretti chipped in a kill and three digs.

Sierra fell by scores of 14-25, 15-25.

Freshman

East Union 2, Downey 0

Taylor Ward dished a game-high 11 assists in East Union’s 25-14, 25-13 win over the Knights.

Michelle Terpstra contributed three kills in the win.

Sierra 2, Tracy 1

Julie Deanda racked up 19 serviced points and four aces as the Timberwolves started their season on a high note. They split the first two games (25-11, 23-25) with Tracy before dominating the deciding set, 15-6.

Alyssa Taboa contributed 13 service points and an ace.