After getting punched hard in the nose by visiting No. 8 West Valley on Thursday, top-seeded Ripon Christian came roaring back for the 11-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-13 win that advances the Knights to the CIF NorCal Division IV semifinals.
They’ll host Harbor of Santa Cruz on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“They just had a big game on Tuesday, and we hadn’t played in nine days,” Ripon Christian coach Kayla Kootstra said. “And we have history with them. I feel like they came into the gym with a lot of energy and nothing to lose, and we came into the gym not expecting that and not responding well to that. I felt like nothing could go right in that first set — we couldn’t serve, we couldn’t hit, we couldn’t do anything.
“Obviously, that’s frustrating as a coach, because we have been practicing really well for the last week, but there is a certain level of pressure and a certain level of nerves that you can’t simulate in practice, and I think that definitely showed. But I was more proud of the fact that we responded, that we didn’t just let them continue to take the energy and continue to control the game. We settled into what we are capable of, we played our game and played three good sets after that start.”
The Knights (23-11) used a balanced attack with Paige Van Hofwegen leading the way at nine kills. Brynn Bohn added eight kills, Alyssa Hofman seven, Morgan Schenk six and Haley Kootstra (three blocks) five.
“We knew we could win, because we had beat them before,” Van Hofwegen said. “But we didn’t start out playing our game. We just needed to pass well, so the rest of our game could flow. We knew they were a good team, so we had to work harder and clean up our errors.”
“We knew we could win because we had beat them before,” Van Hofwegen said. “But we didn’t start out playing our game. We just needed to pass well so the rest of our game could flow. We knew they were a good team so we had to work harder and clean up our errors.”
Alanna Blanco got the ball to the Knights hitters, dishing out 32 assists along with three kills and two aces.
“I think we played really well,” Blanco said. “We knew they were good and we can’t take anyone for granted when it comes to NorCals. We had played them before, but we knew to not come out too confident.
“I really trusted my hitters tonight. They did their jobs and they put the ball away, especially Alyssa (Hofman). She was amazing. I could really rely on her.”
With the balanced Ripon Christian attack up front, Tatum Sonke patrolled the back row with 11 digs.
“We have been working on that defense all season,” Sonke said. “Our coach told us to get our feet to the ball and that’s what we did. Our blocks have to set it up to help us and they are a big part of what we do.”
Savannah Hoekman was a stalwart for West Valley (25-10) of Cottonwood, nailing four aces in that first set and finished with six kills and five aces. Teammates Ellie MacFarlane and Kelsey Morton added eight kills apiece.
“We came out ready, for sure,” Eagles coach Melissa Church said. “We have a hard time starting sometimes, and we just kind of let up and our confidence was just kind of lacking a little bit, even though we did so well in that first set.
“The girls really came out fighting, but we couldn’t maintain what we had to in order to beat a good team like Ripon Christian.”
