Although Manteca swept visiting East Union 25-22, 25-22, 25-17 in Valley Oak League volleyball action Tuesday night at Winter Gym, the Buffaloes never pulled in away in a match that saw 21 ties with 12 coming in the first set.
“You can never feel too comfortable playing a team like that,” Manteca coach Kevin Bolding said. “They are a good team, I don’t care what the records say. They have good players and good coaches so it’s about getting it done out there.”
Olga Perez owned the service line for the Buffaloes (8-3 VOL, 15-6 overall), reeling off 21 service points along with a pair of aces and three digs. 
“Coach Bolding always tells us to serve at them,” Perez said. “The harder you serve, the better it is.”
Karlie Spohn and Kaylee MacDannald formed a formidable 1-2 punch for Manteca at the net with Spohn getting eight kills and three blocks.
“They were good,” Spohn said. “They were really tall and they could block so we had to hit around them.
“Our setters hit the ball really well.”  
MacDannald chipped in seven kills and five blocks.
“Net play is our thing,” MacDannald said of herself and Spohn. “That’s what we do. We take pride in our job.
“And that helps our defense out a lot, because they work a lot for us so we have to work for them — blocking, covering, helping them out.”
Also contributing to the Manteca attack were Abbey Kadillak (19 assists, four service points, three aces); Therese Ferral (34 assists, four service points), Adrianna Powell (seven digs, six kills, seven service points, two aces); Camrenne Genilla (seven kills, dig) and Julia Moreno (six kills, five digs).
East Union (5-6, 7-8) could not manage a lead of more than three points all night.
“Receiving errors hurt us,” Lancers coach Chelsea Herrera said. “Setting errors hurt us, too. Our passes weren’t there and our hands were cold.”
Savannah LeBarre had 13 kills and five digs for East Union. Melissa Scogna added five kills and three blocks; Miekayla Surnip had eight assists and three kills and Danielle James added seven assists, a kill and an ace.

Junior varsity
Manteca 2, East Union 0
The Buffaloes wrapped up the VOL title with a 25-14, 25-16 win, running their record to 10-1, 20-1.
Kim Lu led Manteca with four kills, six digs, five aces and seven service points. Ariana Lowery added five digs, four service points and an ace; Isabella Pires made four digs, six assists, seven service points, two kills and an ace; Arielle Chandler dished out 10 assists with five aces, seven service points and two kills with Leilani Rios (four service points, ace block), Courtney Washburn and Caitlynn Wong getting three kills each and Ayana Van Staaveren posting three digs, two service points and a kill. 
Elizabeth Lopez made three kills and two assists for the Lancers. Celeste Guerrero (ace, five assists), Cynthia Gonzalez and Aryanna Baranza each added a kill.

Freshman
Manteca 2, East Union 0
Jill Santos made 12 service points, six digs and three aces for the Buffaloes in a 25-13, 25-21 win.
Jessica Almeida added 11 service points, eight assists and three aces; Payton Mahoney made four kills and two aces and Cecilia Lopez-Sandoval had three kills and five assists.
Katrina Pacheco had five digs for the Lancers. Valiaila Menzel added three kills; Laikin Abrew (ace), Isabel Ugalino (assist), Elizabeth Johnson and Alyssa Douglas a kill apiece with Makayla Viri (two assists), Jenascia Pierce and Valerie Ochoa each getting an ace.