Manteca’s front-row trio of Micah Crawford, Aidan Patton and Julio Mateo tallied 10 kills apiece Tuesday to lead the Buffaloes to a 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22 non-conference boys volleyball win over visiting Weston Ranch.
“It’s always fun to play Weston Ranch,” Manteca coach Jennifer Reis said. “Because it is good volleyball, usually the best.
“For us, this is big because they have gotten us in the past lately — three times last year with some really tough ones — so it was nice to get this one even though we weren’t 100 percent.”
Manteca (13-2), ranked sixth in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps, was without its top outside hitter, Jesus Gomez. Weston Ranch (18-6) was No. 9 coming into the match.
Crawford did well in filling in for Gomez and added seven digs.
“We did a good job of passing the ball and getting our middles into the game,” Crawford said. “And our defense was doing well in the back row.”
Crawford had a game-ending kill in the first set and ended the match on an arcing kill to the side and back.
“We practice deep shots all the time,” Crawford said. “And our coach did a good job of telling me where to put the ball.”
Patton tallied three digs along with six blocks, including a huge one to sandwiched between two Crawford kills to boost the Buffaloes lead to 24-22 in the final set.
“I was kind of out of position on that last block,” Patton said. “Then I saw their guy going up, and I jumped and it happened.
“We came in with a lot of our team sick, and we were missing our outside. This game didn’t matter for us in league, but it matters to us for playoffs and rankings and this was a big confidence booster for us.”
Mateo posted a double-double with 12 digs to go along with his 10 kills.
“I felt like I had to come out and prove myself, because I have been struggling in the back row for awhile,” Mateo said. “And I am glad coach gave me a chance to go out there tonight and prove myself.”
Mark Bondoc dished out 31 assists with 23 digs for Manteca. Manny Ramirez added nine digs, Cedrick Maglinao eight digs and Garrison Reis four digs and three kills.
Abraham Palacios paced the Cougars with 21 kills.
The Buffaloes travel to Oakdale today at 6 p.m.
Junior varsity
Weston Ranch 2, Manteca 1
The Buffaloes won the first match 25-22 before dropping the next two 22-25, 13-15.
Manteca’s Alex Khizeran tallied 16 digs.
Hayden Silva dished out 17 assists to go with six digs and two kills for the Buffaloes. Dennen Loureiro added eight kills and six digs while Anthony Abello chipped in six kills, four digs and a block.
