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Ripon rolls to SJS D-III final after sinking Sonora
Sonora-Ripon girls water polo
Ripon goalie Tiffani Hunter racks up one of her 23 saves. - photo by SEAN KAHLER

Top-seeded Ripon may have been outmanned Tuesday, but it was the host Indians who were doing the outgunning in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III girls water polo semifinals with a 17-8 thumping of No. 5 Sonora at the Ervin Zador Aquatics Center.

The Indians (20-10) had just one substitute available to eight for the Wildcats (10-9).

“It’s not an easy thing at all to make things work with seven or eight players,” Ripon coach Erik Zador said. “In our last game, we didn’t have any subs and we got lucky and fortunate that nothing bad happened there. But I’m used to it. Been doing this for a long time and usually have small numbers, and we figure it out and do all right for a small school. So I am impressed with the girls and the way they played.

“Sonora is coming around. They have a good coach and I definitely saw improvement throughout the season with them. I would not say that I was not worried today, rather I was cautiously optimistic.”

It is tough to score when you cannot find the net, and it is no wonder Sonora was held to single digits with a goalie like the Indians’ Tiffani Hunter, who posted a whopping 23 saves.

“We have really good defense,” Hunter said. “So that’s why I think I get so many saves.

“It’s really exciting to rack up that many especially since I have not been a goalie for very long.”

Sonora-Ripon girls water polo
Ripon’s Reyna Biedermann shoots over Sonora’s Adeline Hanson (16).
Reyna Biedermann spearheaded the Ripon attack with seven goals and a steal, with her last goal arcing just out of the reach of the Sonora goalie.

“I just want to make sure my team succeeds,” Biedermann said. “I want to work as hard as I can so we can win.

“I try to get open, get a goal, get an assist or a steal. It’s all about what I can do to help the team succeed.”

Faith Fasani did a little bit of everything for the Indians with three goals, four assists, a block and a steal.

“Reyna (Biedermann) gets a lot of good looks,” Fasani said. “I always try and look for her because there is a good chance she will score.

“And it’s not always about scoring so I like to look for my teammates and maybe myself every now and then.”

Madeline Curtiss (three goals, assist), Haley Schmidke (two goals, two assists), Crystallynn Tran (goal, two assists, two blocks), Samantha Scheid (goal, two steals), and Madeline Stewart (goal) rounded out the Ripon attack.

The Indians will face off with No. 2 Christian Brothers at 10 Saturday morning at the Roseville Aquatics Center.