The East Union boys volleyball team was unrecognizable to its coach on Wednesday when the Lancers hosted River Islands for a non-league match.
And that’s a good thing.
One night after getting swept in a lackluster effort in Stockton, they bounced back with a gutsy 26-24, 25-23, 20-25, 14-25, 15-12 win over an athletic and loaded Riptide club that has high expectations for its second varsity campaign.
East Union (2-1), with just three available substitutes, rallied to score the final six points of the match to steal the win and end a 2-hour, 12-minute marathon.
“Last night, we couldn’t get anything going,” EU coach Tevani Liotard said. “My big guns were trying to do it all, but tonight, it was a whole new team. It was nice to see us pull through when the going got tough.”
Her Lancers appeared to be on their way to a letdown after letting a two-set lead slip away. River Islands (1-1) sent it into a fifth set after dominating the fourth.
The Riptide’s comeback was just about complete when it took a 12-9 lead on a service ace from Eric Irving.
Gabriel Estabillo suddenly brought East Union back to life.
The second-year junior outside hitter came through with a clutch ace followed by back-to-back aces. After a River Islands timeout, a hitting error gave the Lancers the lead for good.
Match point did not come as easily for East Union. Jacob Padilla won a joust at the net to punctuate what may have been the longest rally of the night, which included a key pancake save by freshman libero Javier Sandoval.
Sophomore opposite Jon Apsay closed the show with a kill.
“I think we really started to click as a team,” Estabillo said. “We started to kind of pick each other up as the game went. Obviously, it wasn’t planned to lose the third and fourth sets, but in the end, we were working together as a team. It makes me proud, because I know what this team can do.”
With senior setter Isaac Serrato directing the attack, Estabillo finished with a team-high 17 kills, while Padilla pitched in with 13.
The talented Riptide had four players with double-digit kill totals. Nikhil Raj racked up 20 kills, Irving added 19, middle blocker Darius Radoc Factoran had 15 to go with three blocks and Kushith Hanmandla tallied 11 kills, 13 service points and four aces. Second-year sophomore setter Urijah DeOcampo contributed 12 service points.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” River Islands coach Nick Grabowski said. “We started down 2-0, but we’re down a couple of guys right now, a couple starters. We’re going to be just fine. I’m not worried about this one. With all the things that happened in this game, we still fought. This is not a game I’m worried about.”
