The Lathrop High varsity volleyball club got some extra court time last Saturday in Tracy.

Though they went 1-3 at the West Tournament, coach Nicole Unrein noticed marked improvement.

“Our hitting, blocking and tipping were fantastic all morning — the best I’ve seen the girls play yet this season,” she said. “The West High Tournament was a great opportunity for us to work on various pieces of our game.”

The Spartans split their two meetings with St. Elizabeth of Oakland — 25-7, 25-17 in the first contest, and 15-25, 24-26 in the rematch. They also dropped a competitive two-game sweep to Merced (20-25, 22-25) and later took on tourney-host West (9-25, 26-27).

Lathrop’s tournament leaders were: Anselma Rodriguez (26 service points, 8 aces, 6 kills, 5 digs), Janel Butler (21 service points, 9 aces, 15 asissts, 5 digs, 6 tips), Erica Sanchez (4 aces, 8 kills, 5 digs), Vania Zamora (4 digs, 6 blocks, 4 tips), Eliana Young (4 tips, 5 kills, 5 blocks) and Monica Brambila.



Freshman football

Manteca 42, Kimball 6

In a battle of unbeatens, the Buffaloes (1-0, 4-0) opened the Valley Oak League season with a decisive win on the road last Thursday.

Hector Soto scored three times, once on a 22-yard pass from Dominic Pisano. His other TDs were runs of 2 and 24 yards. Lechi Nkwocha scored the first points with a 35-yard scamper in the first quarter and also finished with three sacks on defense.

Also contributing to the score were Nick Luchetti (12-yard pass from Pisano), Jose Soria (25-yard interception return) and Marcus Montano (4-for-5 PATs).