Rich Posz hoped that his East Union volleyball team’s upset of Oakdale last Thursday would have a carry-over effect in Tuesday’s duel with first-place Central Catholic.

He got the exact opposite, as the Lancers fell in three 12-25, 17-25, 14-25 in Modesto. Central Catholic improves to 6-0 in the Valley Oak League and 10-6 overall. East Union (3-3, 9-11) is back to .500 with another important match tonight at Manteca.

“We didn’t have the energy tonight. We were stagnant out there,” Posz said. “I don’t know if we left it all on the floor last week.”

East Union was coming off a four-set win over VOL powerhouse Oakdale. That same effort wasn’t there Tuesday as the Raiders were able to run away in each set.

Haley England and Edmi Lopez hit five kills apiece for the Lancers, while Alissa Burrola chipped in 18 digs.

Lauren Nicholson powered the Central Catholic attack with 13 kills, but it was the Raiders’ overall defense that Posz was most impressed with.

“They are a very tall team that covers well,” Posz said. “Every shot you hit they’re covering and digging and keeping the ball in play. It wasn’t like they were overpowering, but we struggled a lot more with putting the ball in play. They’re 6-0 for a reason.”



Manteca 3, Lathrop 0

At Robert C. Winter Gym, the host Buffaloes were able to set the tone early and cruised to a 25-8, 25-12, 25-15 victory.

Taylor Bays led Manteca (4-2, 6-5) with five kills, 12 digs and three aces. Alyssa Burch also swatted five kills. Melissa Hansen picked up 10 digs and Beth Aschenbrenner finished with 16 assists.

“We served pretty well and played good defense at the start, and that kind of got us going,” Manteca coach Kevin Bolding said. “From there it just carried over.”



Sophomore

Manteca 2, Lathrop 0

The Buffaloes (4-2, 8-3) dispatched visiting Lathrop 25-21, 25-12 behind Emily Yu’s six kills and Tawny Deerinck’s five.

Libery Jocelyn Prado contributed 10 digs.