Ripon’s Trent Olmo came up big down the stretch of the deciding fifth set Thursday with three kills and three blocks for six of his team’s final seven points in a 25-22, 20-25, 28-26, 22-25, 15-10 non-league boys volleyball win over visiting Sierra.
Olmo finished with six kills and five blocks.
“We knew that last set was a quick one to 15, so we had to come out fired up and we did,” Olmo said. “We picked up momentum and got through it.
“As for the play in the net, it is basically read the ball, see how it’s coming over and hit it down.”
Although the Indians (23-6) lost the fourth set, it was not because the serving of Ripon’s Drake Krippene, who reeled off four aces in a row and finished with seven aces, six kills, three digs and five assists.
“I have been playing club for a long time,” Krippene said. ‘I have been working on that serve.
“Usually, I do four-step, but I did two-step just to get it over. It’s really about accuracy and not power.”
Cade Fullmer dished out 34 assists for the Indians.
“We played really hard,” Fullmer said. “We kind of went into this thinking that they were a good team and the match could go either way.
“We showed up tonight and we played hard.”
Ripon’s Gavin Garner added seven kills and two digs with seven digs for Leonardo Barrera and five digs, four kills and an ace for Armondo Ayon.
The win was a long time coming for Indians coach Tara Maruyama.
“This was kind of unexpected,” Maruyama said. “We have not beat Sierra in three years.
“They usually reverse sweep us, and tonight my players were far above my expectations for this game. They played to a level that I know they know how to play, but they don’t always show what they showed today.”
Owen Altadonna hammered out 20 kills for the Timberwolves (17-12). Thinh Huynh added 11 kills, Landon West 10 kills, Julio Vargas seven kills, Manolo Asuncion 12 digs with Toan Do dishing out 49 assists along with six kills and six digs.
The night saw 30 ties with nine lead changes.
“That was a see-saw battle from the first set,” Sierra coach Danielle Deerinck said. “We had a lot of trouble executing in the front row to begin with, but the back row was working really hard for serve-receive.
“They have a very athletic team and a quick offense, and we weren’t adjusting at first, but we did wake up a little bit later. We have had two tough matches in a row with a five-set win over Ripon Christian on Wednesday, so they are probably a little bit tired.”
Monday night at 6 Ripon travels across the street to take on Ripon Christian and Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Timberwolves host Manteca.
Junior varsity
Sierra 2, Ripon 0
Osasu Oviawe posted six digs for the Timberwolves in a 25-19, 25-22 sweep.
Kalel Lagrimas (four kills, five digs), Jerald Jose (four kills, block), Ayden Bryant (three kills, three blocks) and Samuel Tesfandrias (nine assists, nine service points) rounded out the Sierra attack.
