The Ripon Indians started defense of their 2024 Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV volleyball championship with a 25-9, 25-10, 25-9 straight-set win over visiting East Union on Tuesday night.
“I was really happy with our performance,” Indians coach Gregory Soliz said. “We try to instill in these girls to not take points off, to not take sets off no matter the opponent, and they did that tonight.”
Ripon (1-0) looked every bit the part of a defending section champion in the first set, jumping out to a quick 10-3 lead behind strong outside hitting from junior Jorie Eskes, who racked up five of her seven kills in the match early on. Strong service would become a theme of the night early on, with the Indians scoring 10 points off of aces in the first set, including four straight to go up 1-0 by junior Kennedy Everhart.
For East Union (2-4), Tuesday’s matchup represented one of its final tune-ups before Valley Oak League play starts next week.
“We came out a little bit better than we did in yesterday’s loss (at Lincoln), but we still have a long way to go to get where we want to be,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard said. “We had a few players out injured tonight, and when you play a team like Ripon, you know it’s always going to be tough even at full strength.”
The second set belonged to the reigning 2024 Trans Valley League MVP, Ripon’s Adriana Dorn, who recorded six of her match-high 12 kills en route to a 25-10 Indians victory. Dorn, Eskes, and Ashlyn Malone (seven kills) were put in good positions all match long by junior setter Alayna Sprinkle, who racked up 24 assists in the match.
“I was really happy with way Alayna played,” Soliz said. “Tonight was her first time setting for us, and she did a really good job. If we’re going to everything we hope to accomplish as a team this year, she is going to be a huge part of it.”
For Sprinkle, today’s debut was just a part of the process.
“I feel like it went really well tonight,” she said. “We made some great plays out there but definitely have room for improvement, and I am excited to see what our potential could be as a team.”
East Union would not go easily in the third and deciding set. Strong defense at the net from Shebra Razaye and Kennedy McLeod kept the Lancers close to Ripon early on, before the Indians pulled away for a 25-9 victory to close out the match. Ripon continued the theme of strong service compiling six of their 19 total aces in the match.
“We keep telling them this is a completely different team than last year’s and this is a chance to prove themselves all over again,” Soliz said. “I hope we build on what we did here tonight, tomorrow and this weekend in the Reno tournament.”
For East Union, finding its identity as a team is priority number one for its head coach.
“We’re still trying to figure out who we’re going to be,” Liotard said. “These girls know how to play the game, and we’re challenging them to come out here and play with heart and dare our opponents to attack us because we’re going to be ready.”
Both teams will be right back at it today, as East Union travels to Kimball and Ripon heads to Manteca.
