Confident Chavez volleyball overpowers Manteca

By Kevin Niendorf
Record Correspondent

• Posted Sep. 15, 2015 at 12:01 AM
  Updated Sep 15, 2015 at 10:54 PM

  STOCKTON — With five All-San Joaquin Athletic Association players returning to the Chavez volleyball team, coach Dodd Pinkham relishes the opportunity to improve on their second-place finish a season ago.

  The Titans improved their nonleague record to 4-2 by defeating visiting Manteca 3-1 on Tuesday: 24-26, 25-23, 25-11, 25-22. Junior Lili Ita led the Titans with 19 kills, six blocks and two service aces, while teammates Tori Forrester added 10 kills and Lillian Willis recorded 28 digs.

  Christy Khaoone, also an all-league player, had 19 service points including six aces. For the Buffaloes (2-3), Tawny Deerinck had eight kills, while teammates Aryana Martinez and Payton Reis added five kills each.

  “We’re starting to figure out what this team is all about,” Pinkham said. “We expected the difference for us tonight would be in the middle.”

  Ita was a big piece of the Titans’ interior defense, contesting countless kill attempts with a talent for timing her jumps at the net. Pinkham is impressed by Ita’s maturity and growth as a player.

  “She’s a third-year starter, and she’s getting better every year,” Pinkham said. “She’s gaining more and more confidence.”

  Ita helped the Titans build 6-1 leads in each of their first three games, but the Buffaloes stole the first game with a comeback after trailing 14-7. They pulled to within 15-13, before tying the game at 22.

  Kills by Ita and Kahlea Perry pushed Chavez’s lead to 24-22, but Manteca scored the final four points on two kills by Destanie Elliott, a kill by Deerinck and a game-winning ace by Kaitlyn Morenzone.

  “Our serving has come a long way, and that’s probably why we still had a chance (to win the match),” Manteca coach Kevin Bolding said. “We could have made some better decisions at different points of the match. It’s good to get this non-conference stuff over with and get to league.”

  While Chavez doesn’t begin SJAA play until Sept. 29 against Bear Creek, the Buffaloes open their Valley Oak League schedule against East Union Thursday at home.

  Chavez overcame a 23-21 deficit in the second game by scoring the final four points, then won game three after taking a 21-7 lead. In the fourth and final game, Manteca pulled to within 24-22, but a kill by Chavez’s Melissajane Rualizo ended the match.