Ripon Christian volleyball embracing journey as it defends first state title in over 20 years
Get 1% better every day.
That is the message from Ripon Christian volleyball coach Kayla Kootstra to her team during a season where it could be easy to look too far into the future.
They are following up a historic season. The Knights ended a dominant 2022 campaign on a 12-game winning streak capped by a third straight Sac-Joaquin Section title and the program’s first state championship in 20 years. They won at least 35 games for the second straight year.
“The best part was probably just doing it with my best friends,” Jordan Vander Veen said. “I remember saying in middle school we were going to win state and to be able to do that was just so fun. The things I remember like the bus rides to and from games or the cheers we do in the locker room and just all that kind of stuff that I feel like it’s a really cool experience and I’m really thankful for that.”
This year, they know where they want to go and what they have to do to get there. Midway through the first part of Southern League play, the Knights are 19-2 overall and 7-0 in league. They are looking for their third straight undefeated league record. They haven’t dropped a set to an SL opponent since Sept. 13, 2022.
“With state in the back of our minds, we’re just motivated,” senior setter Megan Weststeyn said. “It was fun playing that whole season and to do that again would just be even more fun with our team. It’s just motivation to try to do it again.”
But they still have to take time to enjoy the journey, something Kootstra knows a lot about. During her playing days at Ripon Christian, she was a member of the team’s only other state championship team in 1999.
“We have a bunch of girls who are competitive, they’re driven, they have very high expectations for themselves and sometimes we can get lost in some of the little things,” Kootstra said. “We have to make sure that we’re celebrating successes and we’re making memories and we’re enjoying the moments because as I’ve told them before, at the end of the day, in 10 or 15 or 20 years while the goals that we’ve set for winning are great, that’s not what they’re going to remember the most. … You remember some of the big wins and losses, but overall, you remember the silly things you do with your teammates, that road trips, that kind of stuff.”
This year’s team is led by a group of seven seniors with a lot of experience. Vander Veen is a four year varsity member, Leah Van Wyngarden has played varsity for three years and Weststeyn, Sydney Hoffman, Allison Brown, Maddie Yonker and Dayna Koolhas are all two-year varsity players.
“You have players who have been through it,” Kootsrta said. “They know when to push, they know when to back off. They know how to get the job done when it needs to get done.”
Hoffman, Weststeyn and Vander Veen are among the best players in the state. Hoffman, a middle blocker, leads California in hitting percentage. Weststeyn, the team’s setter, is fourth in the state in assists and Vander Veen, the team’s outside hitter and 2022 Second Team MaxPreps All-American, is 17th in kills.
“They’re the players we look at to step up in big moments and to get us kills when we need them,” Kootstra said. “Their play is leading, but also I think they’ve done a really great job of stepping into some of the encouragement and team camaraderie stuff that is necessary for a team to be successful.”
The senior class is just as close off the court as they are on it. Most of them have been playing together since they were young.
“We’ve been playing together since like seventh grade,” Vander Veen said, “so I think we definitely had that bond off the court, which helps with a bond on the court. We know exactly how the person next to us plays which helps us create better team chemistry. If someone makes a mistake, we know that someone else has their back and we can trust each other better.”
The Knights have seen it all. They have swept opponents and have been swept. Their two losses came to Pitman High – a 2-0 loss in a tournament and a 3-1 non-league loss. They nearly lost their opener on the road against Central Valley Christian in a rematch of last season’s Division IV state championship. The Knights went down two sets before rallying back to win in five.
“In some situations when we’re behind, I’ve seen our team pick it up and fight from behind and win the game,” Weststeyn said. “We have really good grit and just determination to finish the game.”
The season opener against Central Valley Christian served as a good test for the Knights and they passed. That was arguably their best game of the season and they are hoping to reach that level of execution under pressure to produce another deep postseason run.
“You don’t want to peak in the middle of a season, so no matter who our opponent is on the other side, we have to keep in mind the goals that we’ve set and where we’re trying to be come October and November,” Kootstra said of her message to the team. “Not that you’re overlooking anybody on the other side, but I think every rep we take on this court has to be about more than just that rep. It has to be we’re either getting better or we’re not.
“It helps to stay motivated and disciplined when you’re keeping your eye on what you’re hoping your final prize is going to be.”
