The road to the first-ever California Interscholastic Federation State Boys Volleyball Championships goes through San Jose for Ripon Christian.
The Knights (27-9) are seeded fifth for the Northern Regional bracket in Division and headed to No. 4 Branham (26-10) tonight. A win likely sets Ripon Christian up with another San Jose opponent in top-seeded Leigh (25-8), the reigning NorCal D-III champion.
The Longhorns knocked off Branham — a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton division rival — in the Central Coast Section Division I title match this past Saturday. They start with eighth-seeded Washington (13-10) of Fremont, the North Coast Section Division III champion.
“We look at it as an opportunity,” RC coach Kevin Tameling said of his team’s tough draw. “Branham is playing great competition all the time, playing some of the top teams in the state and hanging with them.”
Outside hitters Andrew Casale (287 kills, 2.8 per set) and 6-foot-5 Nick Mego (204 kills, 3.0 per set) head a balanced attack that includes 6-foot setter Patrick Willson (801 assists, 7.6 per set), who is among Bruins’ top blockers (56 blocks) and servers (43 aces, 185 points).
Branham has six players with at least 100 kills, and sophomore Pavel Znamerovsky — the Bruins’ top blocker with 60 — is closing in on the century mark.
“They’re solid all the way around the court,” Tameling said. “They have good hitters at every position, and they have some good top-spin servers. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re looking forward to playing against them.”
The Knights counter with junior outside hitter Mason Tameling, one of the state’s most prolific hitters (453 kills) and servers (87 aces). He is joined by senior opposite Isaiah Vander Woude (279 kills, 75 blocks, 47 aces), junior middle Darren Van Groningen (189 kills, 74 blocks) and junior setter Daniel Lambdin (906 assists, 42 blocks).
Ripon Christian’s three seniors — Jackson Anema, Joel Hendricks and Vander Woude — missed out on their senior class trip to Disneyland on Monday to practice with the team.
The Knights have had a longer break since its last match, a commanding sweep of Christian Brothers in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III final back on May 10. They’ve won eight straight and 12 of their last 13.
“I don’t know if many people expected us to get to this point, but the guys have put in a lot of work and built a lot of trust in each other,” coach Tameling said. “It’s fun seeing us play our best volleyball at the end of the season.”
Tameling and the Knights have enjoyed much success in the eight seasons of the program’s existence, not counting the two COVID years. Ripon Christian owns three SJS championship pennants and the 2022 NorCal Division IV crown.
The regional semifinals are on Thursday followed by the NorCal and SoCal finals on Saturday. The inaugural boys volleyball state championships are set for May 31 at Fresno City College.
“It’s great for the in the sport,” Tameling said. “Boys volleyball is really growing around the nation starting at the lower levels. It’s great that they now have the opportunity to play all the way through state.”
