The most decorated small-school program in the Sac-Joaquin Section had its campaign end in the Division III playoffs Tuesday, as fourth-seeded Ripon Christian lost to No. 1 Vanden in Fairfield, 25-23, 13-25, 15-25, 18-25.

The Knights (19-6) were still able to make a deep enough run to once again qualify for the state tournament, which begins with the NorCal regionals next Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Meanwhile, Vanden (25-10) will battle No. 3 Roseville (23-13) on Saturday for the SJS championship at Cosumnes River College. Roseville downed second-seeded Vista del Lago (19-10) in the other semifinal, 17-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-25, 15-9.

Despite losing much of its back-to-back state championship core to graduation, Ripon Christian proved worthy of its new Division-III designation by rolling to the semifinal round and taking the opening set from No. 1 seed. The Knights were up 24-18 and staved off the Vikings’ late surge to take game 1.

Ripon Christian, however, struggled with serve receive all match, and Vanden had too much firepower in the front row with the likes of Ariah Isadore, Piper Olson, Soph Montano, Izzy Taylor and Olivia Parks — all of them seniors.

Isadore led the Vikings with 13 kills, while Soph Montano racked up 10 kills, eight aces and seven blocks. Vanden amassed a whopping 23 aces.

The Knights’ woes on serve receive started in the second set, as Olson served seven straight points — including four aces — for a 9-1 Vanden lead.

Ripon Christian had some early momentum in the third set, scoring the first four points after two straight kills each from Paige Van Hofwegen and Brynn Bohn.

Vanden countered with a four-point flurry and led 6-5 after an ace from Isadore. The Vikings did not trail for the rest of the match.

Van Hofwegen paced Ripon Christian with seven kills and 16 digs. Alyssa Hofman (eight digs) and Bohn (two blocks) also had seven kills each. Morgan Schenk and Haley Kootstra added six and five kills, respectively.

Setter Alanna Blanco tallied 31 assists and eight digs. Libero Anneke Dyt had 10 digs.

Brackets for the California Interscholastic Federation Northern Regionals will be revealed Sunday afternoon.

Ripon Christian is a three-time state champion, and 18 of its 19 SJS titles were earned in Division V. Last year, the Knights captured their first D-IV section crown and were moved up again because of the “continued success” rule.