The Ripon Christian Knights looked impressive in their Sac Joaquin Section Division III playoff opening-round match Tuesday night, jumping on a game East Union Lancers side en-route to a 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 straight-set victory to advance to the second round.
“I thought we came out with really good energy tonight,” Ripon Christian head coach Kayla Kootstra said. “They play a type of volleyball that our girls have a hard time with, so I was happy we were able to play our way early on and get in the flow of the game.”
Both the sixth-seed Ripon Christian (15-15) and 11th-seed East Union (11-15) came into the postseason battle tested after competing in two of the best volleyball conferences in the area. The Knights finished in third place in a tough Trans Valley League, while the Lancers played a bunch of close matches throughout their Valley Oak League campaign. This year’s postseason berth is the first in 11 years for East Union, something head coach Tevani Liotard hopes to build off of next season.
“I told the girls its been 11 years, and we were the 11th seed — it wasn’t a coincidence,” she said. “This is a huge accomplishment for these girls, and I can’t say enough about how they competed all season long until the final whistle this evening. Part of my job this season has been getting them to realize they deserved to be here, and I think that clicked tonight when they saw the long rallies we got into.”
Senior outside hitter Alyssa Hofman helped get the hosts out to a fast start against the Lancers, racking up six of her game high 17 kills in the opening set. A six-point service run by Lauren Mouw set the tone for things to come as the senior libero accounted for a team-high 22 service points. Strong play at the net by East Union outside hitter Jedah Haywood (seven kills) and middle blocker Kennedy McLeod (five kills) were not enough, as Ripon Christian took the first set.
“Alyssa has been a go-to player for us all season long,” Kootstra said. “I thought we did a really good job passing tonight, putting her in spots in which she can really put a good swing on the ball that is tough to defend.”
Passing was strong for the Knights all match long. Setters Rhian Heuvel (25 assists) and Brooklynn Postma (12 assists) spread the ball around to six different Ripon Christian hitters that recorded kills. Senior middle blocker Maddie Sabala (seven kills) was one of the main beneficiaries of passes from the Knights’ duo of setters.
“Rhian and Brooklynn were great tonight,” Sabala said. “We’ve worked really hard getting on the same page with them, and they kept East Union guessing throughout the match.”
Sabala, Hofman, and Annika Jung (seven kills) propelled the Knights up 2-0 matching the first set score at 25-13.
“That second set was a big one for us,” Kootstra said. “We know what kind of a team they are and to go up 2-0 there and take control of the match gave the girls a huge boost.”
East Union middle blocker Isabella Martinez-Lopez (six blocks, five kills) gave her team some life in the third set battling back against the Ripon Christian hitters cutting the Knights lead to 10-7 early on. Youth then went on display for the Knights, as sophomore outside hitter Bailey Brayton (six kills) got going helping Ripon Christian pull away for a victory to clinch the victory.
For East Union, the loss represents the end of the season, but the future is bright for Liotard’s young team.
“We’ll lose some girls that are irreplaceable,” she said. “But we have some talent that will still be here, and we’ll get some girls from JV and try to build off of this result and go even further next season.”
The win for the Knights’ sets up a second-round match-up with third seeded Lathrop, a team that went undefeated in Western Athletic Conference play.
“We know they are a good program with some strong players,” Kootstra said. “We’ll watch some film get a practice in tomorrow, but it’s really about playing our game and doing the things we’ve done to get here consistently.”
Round 2 from Lathrop will take place Thursday at 6 p.m.
