East Union visited Lathrop High’s Greg Leland Gym on Thursday and struggled through the first two sets and battled hard through the third but ended up getting swept by the host Spartans, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23 in non-league girls volleyball action.
“You have to give it to EU,” Spartans coach Toa Fa’ali’i said. “They fought back in the third set. All the respect goes to them and their coach.
“We need that. Every team we play, I look forward to our team playing a tough set. I’m glad my veteran players Siliana Fa’ataualofa, Erin Chunn and Sariah Hilton will hold down the fort.”
Fa’ataualofa paced Lathrop (11-3) with 11 kills, four aces and four digs.
“I always have the attack mentality,” Fa’ataualofa said. “I don’t like to tip a lot, but if the set is off I am going to play it smart.”
Jadore Dixon scrambled for 10 digs and four assists for the Spartans.
“I wanted to prove that I could be a libero,” Dixon said. “I just like being intentional, being loud, and staying positive for all my teammates and to be there for all of them.
“They push me to be the best I can be.”
Hilton dished out five assists along with five digs.
“I want to make all my teammates shine,” Hilton said. “It is so amazing to watch them play and do well and I get to be the person that sets them up.
“I love to give credit to all my teammates for how hard they work. If I do make a mistake, I want to be focused on that error and making sure that they get the good set that they want.”
Chunn chipped in five kills.
The Lancers (8-4) trailed the entire first set and led at just 2-1 in the second, but came out revitalized in the third where there were 10 ties and six lead changes before Lathrop eked out the two-point win.
“The first two sets I thought we still had remnants of last night’s match when we played Manteca,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard said. “We were moving slow and not sticking with our game plan.
“The third set, I went to a 5-1 and threw in people just to throw in and we actually played well, so that’s kind of telling me that maybe I need to do that more often – throw in the others and maybe we’ll play well. He didn’t back down, which was good, but we just couldn’t get up and over that hump to bump set spike which is what you need.”
Lucija Dayeh dished out seven assists for the Lancers and added two blocks. Elle Baluyut chipped in six digs and an ace with Lola Alvarez tallying four digs and three assists.
On Monday night at 6:30 Lathrop opens Western Athletic Conference play on the road at Livingston and East Union travels to Sierra.
