Lathrop is a win away from a milestone under first-year head coach Heather Anderson.

The Spartans completed a season sweep of host Sierra on Monday, winning 25-14, 26-24, 25-23. They are now 3-4 in the Valley Oak League (4-11 overall) and another victory away from breaking a season-high program record for league wins. The 2010 team went 4-10.

“There are expectations now, which is a major change for our program,” Anderson said. “I told the girls before the game we’re a couple wins from making history. It’s not super respectable but what we are doing is something to be proud of.”

Joy Bautista led Lathrop with four kills and eight digs. Mary Cotton added three kills and four blocks, Fasha Hayes served four aces, Karina Chavez dished out five assists and Brittany Johnson recorded nine digs.

Sierra (0-9, 3-12) made a match of it after the Spartans coasted to a Game 1 win.

“My girls tend to get comfortable with a lead and we made errors,” Anderson said. “Sierra capitalized on that and stepped up.”

Setter Emma Brierly had three kills to go with her eight assists for the Timberwolves. Vanessa Benham (four kills, two blocks), Lindsey Walljasper (three blocks, two kills) and Alexis Surnip (three kills, three assists, two blocks) also stood out for Sierra, which takes on third-place Manteca across town on Wednesday.

Lathrop travels to Central Catholic.

“Hopefully we can turn some of those ‘Ls’ from the first half of league into ‘Ws’ and do some damage,” Anderson said. “The playoffs are a distant dream now, but we’re hoping to at least finish in the top half.”

Oakdale 3, Manteca 1

OAKDALE — The Buffaloes (7-2, 10-3) once again couldn’t get over the hump against defending VOL champion Oakdale (7-1, 7-3),  losing a 32-30, 23-25, 18-25, 18-25 heartbreaker. Manteca was up for much of the pivotal second set but was unable to keep the momentum. 

“It was really back and forth with a lot of long rallies, like two heavyweights hitting each other,” Bolding said of the closely-contested first two games. “In Game 2 we led all the way until the end. A couple of calls did not go our way and that was the turning point. If we close that out we’re obviously sitting in a really good spot. We had them on the ropes.”

Manteca middle Destanie Elliott was solid all-around, finishing with 11 kills, five blocks and 13 digs — all team-highs. Rhiannon Genilla chipped in seven kills and 13 digs. Setters Kacy Bolding (14 service points, 14 assists, 10 digs, three blocks) and Kaitlyn Morenzone (eight points, 11 assists, 12 digs, two blocks) had productive nights, as did Tawny Deerinck (five kills, 13 digs).

Southern League

Ripon Christian 3,

Le Grand 0

LE GRAND — Paige Vos amassed 17 kills and 19 digs, lifting the SL’s top club to a 25-15, 25-12, 26-24 sweep of the Bulldogs (6-3, 9-9). The Knights improved to 8-0 in league and 13-7 overall.

Carly Eastham provided 10 kills and three blocks. Makenzie Miller had four blocks, three of them solo stuffs, and five aces. Bethany Silveira contributed 17 digs and two aces, while setter Beth Weststeyn collected 31 assists.

“It was a bit of a challenge in the third set to maintain momentum,” Ripon Christian coach Jocelyn Benziger said. “We made a few hitting errors and had difficulty putting the ball away on out-of-system plays. It almost went Le Grand’s way at the end, but the girls dug in and finished it in three.”

Sophomore

Sierra 2, Lathrop 0

Savannah Guzman and Sophia Schmeidt had five digs apiece, as Sierra rolled to a 25-23, 25-18 sweep.

Freshman

Sierra 2, Lathrop 0

Stella Brierly served up seven aces, and Natalie Dias chipped in four to go with two kills in the Timberwolves’ 25-13, 25-11 victory.

Kayla Riley added two kills and three aces.