Tuesday night’s 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of No. 12 West Valley by fifth-seeded Ripon Christian was not the first NorCal meeting of these two teams, but things went a little easier for the Knights this time around.
When the two teams met in 2022, it was at the end of a 750-plus mile week capped by a trip to Cottonwood for Ripon Christian. Down zero games to two, the Knights rallied back to win 3-2 on their way to a state title.
Ripon Christian advances to the second round of the NorCal Division IV playoffs on Thursday in Vallejo against St. Patrick-St. Vincent at 6 p.m.
“We had a rough game last Tuesday in our semifinal section loss,” Knights coach Kayle Kootstra said. “Our passing wasn’t good. We just weren’t ever on, and Vanden was a good team. We didn’t necessarily respond the way I was hoping. I am most proud of the fact that we bounced back.
“When you lose in the semifinals and you have a week off, there is every opportunity for these girls to sort of be done and check out and they didn’t. They came back ready to play, and I was really proud of what they did on the floor.”
Early in the second set Brynn Bohn (12 kills) gave Ripon Christian (20-16) the lead for good in that game with three consecutive kills and added two more kills back-to-back later in the set.
“I think something that sets us apart from other teams is how much we run the middle,” Bohn said. “And we can’t do that without our defense or our setter.
“It’s so fun to engage the middle, because it is so hard to defend that. It was a great aspect of our game that we were able to bring that, especially that many times in a run.”
Paige Van Hofwegen patrolled the front and back rows for the Knights, racking up 12 digs and 10 kills.
“In the back row it’s all about reading the hitters,” Van Hofwefgen said. “When we are hitting, we practice on certain spots that are open based on how they play their defense, so we can get kills more efficiently.”
Anneke Dyt (11 digs), Alyssa Hofman (nine kills), Morgan Schenk (seven kills), and Haley Kootstra (seven kills) rounded out the Ripon Christian attack.
“I just knew I had to put the ball away when I needed to,” Hofman said. “So, I tried to execute the best that I could.”
Alanna Blanco supplied the Knights hitters with 36 assists.
“The passes were really good tonight,” Blanco said. “We did really well on serve-receive and on defense, so I was able to move the ball around and that was good.
“This team was really good. We have played them before so we knew we had to come out strong.”
While Ripon Christian got the sweep, the Knights were challenged in each set, as there were 12 ties and four lead changes on the night with Ripon Christian getting off to slow starts in the first two sets, trailing 8-3 in the first set and 3-1 in the second.
Rainessa Matthews led the Eagles (22-13) with 11 kills and a block.
