Ripon Christian sweeps West Valley in Northern California Division IV Regional opener
Consistency, consistency, consistency.
One word that can be the difference between a dominant win and a narrow loss in volleyball. Ask Ripon Christian.
Oct. 19, the Knights faced West Valley of Cottonwood in a tournament. They won that match in the maximum three sets, but it wasn’t their best effort. They played well in the first and third sets, but that second set gave them trouble.
Thursday night, in the first round of the CIF Northern California Division IV Regional Championships, Ripon Christian swept the Eagles 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 to advance to the second round of the tournament. The team travels to No. 4 St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo.
“We just played them (West Valley) a couple weeks ago and it was toward the end of the season. Have we gotten better? Yes. I think, though tonight, you saw more consistent play,” she said. “We didn’t let it get to the point where we were digging holes or allowing them to have runs of multiple points in a rotation, and that was that was key for us.”
During their first matchup, just one player had more than seven kills. Tuesday night, Brynn Bohn (12 kills) and Paige Van Hofwegen (10) led the team and Alyssa Hofman and Morgan Schenk added nine and seven kills, respectively.
The Knights turned an early 15-11 lead into a 20-12 advantage quickly. They gave up a few points near the end of the set, but each time the Eagles looked like they would get momentum, the Knights rebounded. The Knights led the whole second set and ended the frame on a 6-1 run to take a victory. The third set started closer, but the Knights came from behind to force a 12-12 tie. They then went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 20-14. They withstood a push from West Valley to finish off the sweep.
“It’s inevitable that the other team is going to, at times, take momentum, but … the ability to move on to the next point is so important in this game,” coach Kayla Kootstra said. “We did a much better job of that tonight.”
The Knights bounced back from what Kootstra said was “probably our worst passing game of the season” last week in the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals against Vanden. She says the team’s offensive versatility Tuesday was thanks to passing well and finishing plays through all three sets. Alanna Blanco had a team-high 38 assists and Van Hofwegen and Anneke Dyt finished with 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
“We had a rough passing game last Tuesday,” she said, “so I was really proud of how my passers specifically bounced back tonight. They had a much better game and it does change the whole dynamic of play, just being able to be in system and use all of our hitters. … I think that kept them guessing as to where we were going. That was a good turnaround that we didn’t just let that last defeat dictate what we looked like tonight.”
It looks like the key to securing a first-round home game in the regional playoffs is to lose in the section semifinals.
After claiming section titles in 2022 and 2023, the Knights were moved up a division and seeded 10th or lower in each of their last two NorCal appearances. This year, after falling to Vanden in the Division III section semifinals, the Knights finally got to host a home game in the regional playoffs after being road warriors the past two seasons.
“We had a lot of fun on the road the last couple years. You make a lot of great memories but you don’t get your fans,” Kootstra said. “You don’t get the grandparents and the friends and even the little kids that come and watch these girls play all season. It’s nice to be able to have them in a gym during a playoff match, and so to have a NorCal home game is great. We love it.”
As the No. 5 seed, Ripon Christian was guaranteed only one home game in the regional postseason. In order to play at home in Thursday’s second-round match, the Knights would have needed the No. 13 seed to upset the No. 4. Thursday, the Knights travel to Vallejo to play one of the North Coast Section’s Division III semifinalists.
The Knights are playing with house money now. They are looking at likely having to upset each of their next three opponents if they want to make it to a third straight state title match. They’re playing to win, but they also want to play the right way.
“We are gonna make the most of every day that we have and every game that we have. I just keep telling the girls, if we’re gonna be done, we want to be done knowing that we played the best volleyball we could play when we walk off that court,” Kootstra said. “And if a team beats us when we’re playing really good volleyball, then they deserve to move. But I’m excited to have another opportunity to play Thursday.”
Northern California Regional playoff scores
Division III
No. 5 Aragon 3, No. 12 Ripon 0: After winning the Division IV Sac-Joaquin Section championship in straight sets Saturday over Liberty Ranch, Ripon was promoted to Division III and given a No. 12 seed by the CIF seeding committee. The Indians traveled to San Mateo to face No. 5 Aragon. Though they got stronger as the match progressed, Ripon’s season ended in a three-set loss, 25-16, 25-20, 25-23. Ripon’s season ends with an impressive 30-3 record. It is Ripon’s second straight 30-win season. Before Tuesday’s loss, Ripon had won 10 straight games. The Indians swept their last nine straight opponents, including sweeping their way to a section title.
Division IV
No. 2 Hilmar 3, No. 15 University Prep 0: Hilmar rebounded from its loss in the Division IV section playoffs to Liberty Ranch with a win in the D-IV state tournament, sweeping University Prep of Redding, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21. The Yellowjackets host No. 7 Bullard of Fresno in the second round of the Northern California regional playoffs Thursday at 6 p.m.
Division V
No. 5 Big Valley Christian 3, No. 12 Pinole Valley 0: Just three days after falling in a competitive five-set section championship match against Bradshaw Christian on Saturday, the Lions got back in the win column, sweeping 12-seed Pinole Valley in the first round of the Northern California Regional playoffs, 25-15, 25-13, 25-10. The Lions advance to the second round of NorCals, where they once again face Bradshaw Christian, which is seeded fourth in D-V. It is Big Valley’s third time facing the Pride in the past two seasons. Last season, they met in the section semifinals, a match Bradshaw Christian also won, 3-0.
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 8:43 AM.
