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Defending TVL champs upend Ripon
Indians cant hold on to two-game lead
VB-Rip-Pic-2
Jourdan Richter sets something up for Lizzy Nizzoli Tuesday in Ripons 3-2 loss to Escalon.

ESCALON – Taking the first two games was likely the worst thing the Ripon Indians could have done, because an inspired Escalon club down two games turned invincible in a 21-25, 24-26, 25-21, 28-26 and 15-11 victory over Ripon Tuesday.

The Trans Valley League matchup opened with Ripon claiming the quick lead, but after edging out Ripon in the next two Escalon took complete control of the match by opening the deciding game on a 6-0 run. Ripon would fight to pull even at 7-7 but would not see the lead again.

“They had a better start,” Ripon head coach Adrienne Uecker said. “I mean, we were down 6-0. A game to 15 that makes it pretty difficult. We did fight back, but in a game to 15 you cannot start off 6-0.

“It’s just putting yourself so far down; if it was a game to 25 maybe it would have ended differently.”

Escalon clearly proved to be a different club at crunch time. The unforced errors that harmed Escalon’s success early were no longer existent. Ripon didn’t self-implode; it was just a talented Escalon group getting on a roll at the right time.

After pulling out a dog-fight in a pivotal game four that featured nine ties from the 18th point on, Escalon wouldn’t relinquish control. Pulling out the challenging game ignited the Cougars, and they rode their momentum through the most important moments of the final game.

“They ended that fourth game with a lot of momentum,” Ripon’s Lizzy Nizzoli said. “And we just didn’t have that. We were doing a lot better in the beginning, but they just started to turn it on.”

Ripon unfortunately drops its TVL opener, while the Cougars move to 2-0. The Indians will make their league home debut Thursday when they host the Hughson Huskies. Escalon will try and make it three straight when they play host to Orestimba High.

“I’m extremely proud of our girls,” Escalon head coach Teresa Williamson said. “They showed a lot of heart. They started slow as everybody could see, but they finished strong.

“It’s the beginning of the season and we can only get stronger from here on out.”