STOCKTON — Ben Holt College Prep Academy showed that it deserves the top seed in Division IV with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-15 sweep of visiting No. 8 Ripon on Friday in a Sac-Joaquin Section quarterfinal.

The Indians (24-10) put up a tough fight in the first set, leading much of the second half of that game with their last lead at 21-20 before Ben Holt (36-1) went on a 5-0 run to finish the first game. Ripon did not enjoy a lead the rest of the night.

“We were right there with them the first set,” Indians coach Tara Maruyama said. “After that, they adjusted, and we struggled.

“They are a really good team, and they deserved to win.”

Drake Krippene led the Indians attack with seven kills, four digs and three assists.

“We tried our hardest,” Krippene said. “But sometimes our hardest isn’t good enough, especially against a team like that.”

Ripon’s Trent Olmo added five kills, four blocks and a dig.

“Going into the match, we knew it was going to be a hard one,” Olmo said. “We had some highs with some good hits from some good passes, especially in that first set.

“Then we had some lows where we let them absolutely smash the ball without us even touching it. That kind of crushed our spirits a bit.”

Armando Ayon (five kills, two digs, ace), Alex Alvarellos (four kills, three digs, block) and Leonardo Barrera (seven digs) rounded out the Indians attack with Cade Fullmer dishing out 17 assists with an ace.

The Bobcats have not lost a match since March 11 and have only yielded three sets in their last 28 outings.

“We had a rough first match,” Ben Holt coach Eli Anderson said. “This round of 16 was a little bit rough, and that wasn’t our best match.

“We came into this match a lot more focused, because we knew Ripon was going to be good. They showed up and gave us a good match. We got a captain back who has been out for six weeks, and we made some lineup tweaks. I was happy with how we played tonight.”

The Bobcats host fourth-seeded Bear River in the semifinals on Tuesday night at 6.