Ripon volleyball earns TVL sweep in matchup between SJS top 20 ranked teams
The Ripon High volleyball team has won 32 straight Trans-Valley League games. And the Indians feel the pressure sometimes.
They prepare tougher than years prior. Head coach Gregory Soliz is more meticulous in practice, going over specific game situations or drills more than he has before. The players respond to it well, he said.
Come game time, though, they don’t think about it.
“We try not to think about our record going into league, just take every team seriously, knowing that every team is coming after us,” senior outside hitter Adriana Dorn said. “Just playing our best game and coming out focused and ready to play.”
Ripon’s last loss was to Escalon in 2022. After that game, an Oct. 10 3-0 sweep, Ripon won its final four TVL games that season, went a perfect 22-0 across the 2023 and 2024 seasons and has started 2025 6-0.
Its most recent league win came against a defending Northern California champion. Tuesday, Ripon hosted Hilmar in a matchup between the No. 6 and No. 13 teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps. It was their first meeting since Ripon won the Division IV section title and the Yellowjackets went on an impressive run through the D-IV NorCal bracket, finishing as the top team in NorCal and the state runner-up.
Ripon jumped out to an early lead and did not look back, sweeping Hilmar 25-13, 25-12, 25-18.
Ripon took an early 12-6 first set lead that quickly ballooned to a 20-11 advantage. It scored five of the final seven points to take its first set victory. The Indians picked up where they left off in the second, starting on a 5-0 run, sparking a Hilmar timeout. After the break, Ripon outscored the Yellowjackets 7-2 to take a 12-2 lead. After Ripon opened up a 23-8 advantage, Hilmar scored four straight points, but Ripon limited the run, finishing the second set 25-12.
The third set started out as a back-and-forth affair as the Yellowjackets found their footing, using an early run to cut Ripon’s lead to 10-9. The Indians quickly responded, rattling off five straight points for a 15-9 lead. An ace from Stella Pires helped Hilmar cut it to a 15-12 Ripon lead, which stayed around five points for the rest of the set. A Dorn kill was part of a 5-2 run that helped Ripon seal the match.
Dorn finished with 14 kills, Ashlyn Malone added nine and Jorie Eskes had eight. Setter Alayna Sprinkle had 27 assists, six aces and eight digs.
Dorn is one of the few players returning to the same position she played in 2024. The Bee’s reigning Volleyball Player of the Year and University of the Pacific commit entered Tuesday’s game sixth in the section in kills (268). She has her stellar play from last season while leading a number of players who are either playing a completely different position than they played in 2024 or playing varsity volleyball for the first time.
Sprinkle did not set for the team last season as a sophomore, tallying just four assists. She entered Tuesday’s match with the sixth-most assists in the section (503). Kennedy Everhart moved from DS to libero this season and Elysa Meineke is a freshman middle blocker who has played the majority of the team’s sets.
“We told the players at the start of the season that we’re a new team. We’re not last year’s team,” Soliz said. “We have to keep working, we cannot be complacent.”
She is competitive but kind in her leadership, she said, offering encouragement instead of reprimanding teammates for mistakes. She knows when there is so much new and many games left, there is an adjustment period.
“If we’re not doing our best or not showing effort, I’ll let us know, but I don’t try to be rude,” she said, “just very encouraging.”
Ripon’s win Tuesday was its 17th of the 2025 campaign. In addition to being a top 10 team in the MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section computer rankings, Ripon is the top team in Division III. After their first round of league games, which wrapped up with the game against Hilmar, the Indians dropped just two sets against TVL opponents this season.
But their goal is on something bigger than their third straight league title.
If Ripon makes it through the a competitive Division III playoff bracket that includes rival Ripon Christian, Christian Brothers, Pioneer and Roseville in the top five, unbeaten, it will be Dorn’s fourth straight section title game appearance. If the Indians win, it will be the third blue banner in four seasons.
“It’s so exciting,” Dorn said of chasing postseason success. “I’m super excited to keep playing, make it to playoffs and go from there.
Ripon starts the second half of TVL play Thursday at 6 p.m. at home against Hughson.
Tuesday Volleyball Scores
Escalon 3, Orestimba 0
Calaveras 3, Riverbank 0
Ripon Christian 3, Sonora 2
Central Catholic 3, Sierra 2
Pitman 3, Gregori 0
Downey 3, Modesto 0
Hughson 3, Livingston 0
