Following a dominant first set, Ripon stormed out to a 9-3 lead in the second Wednesday at East Union.

The host Lancers may have looked overmatched at the outset, but they went down swinging in the 12-25, 23-25, 17-25 sweep.

“I feel like they doubt themselves,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard said. “They look across the net and think, ‘Oh my gosh, that team is really good.’ They just have to realize that we can hit as well as they do and we can block as well as they do — we can play this team.”

The final game was back and forth, for the most part, East Union (3-3) even had a 15-12 advantage. The Indians (2-0) closed it out with five unanswered points, getting a kill from freshman opposite Jorie Eskes and a four-point service run from Kennedy Everhart. Shayla McKeon contributed a kill, and Everhart had two aces during that final flurry.

“It’s helpful to have those girls who can go to when we are stuck,” Ripon coach Devon Denhart said. “They’re very consistent, and they are really good at keeping it in play and putting it down.

East Union, at times, had no answer for Adriana Dorn, Ripon’s 6-foot-1 outside hitter who finished with 14 kills and three aces. Eskes added nine kills and two solo blocks. McKeon chipped in seven blocks.

Katelyn Bogetti handed out 20 assists, and Everhart tallied 11. Libero Emeri Lane had five digs to go with four aces.

Ripon was able to recapture momentum to steal game 2. East Union battled back from that early 9-3 deficit and charged to a 20-18 lead after back-to-back aces from Katelynn Trevino.

Down 22-20, Ripon rallied to score five out of the next six points. Sprinkle served a pair of aces in that stretch, and middle blocker Olivia Neuman clinched it with a stuff block.

“We letdown a little bit in the second set but fixed some errors,” Denhart said. “We’re just going through some struggles with consistency right now and trying out different lineups. We’re trying to find our rhythm still.”

Trevino paced East Union with four kills and three aces. Meritiana Luani contributed three kills and three aces.

The Lancers have had multiple key starters out.

“It’s not an excuse,” Liotard said. “We played good ball tonight, just not consistently.”

Junior varsity

East Union 2, Ripon 0

East Union prevailed, 25-19, 25-18.

Brooklyn Brown led Ripon’s attack with five kills. Savannah Parsons collected seven digs, while Adelynn Lane had six assists.