Ripon Christian coach Kevin Tameling expected his second-seeded Knights to get some resistance from No. 7 McNair in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal on Friday.
They did get that, eventually, but not before a scalding hot start to their 25-12, 25-20, 25-18 sweep.
Grant Wentworth served six straight points, as the defending champion Knights (23-14) shot out to a 7-0 lead. The advantage grew to 19-4, and every point McNair (21-11) had was from Ripon Christian service errors.
“Coming in, we knew McNair is very talented and scrappy in picking balls,” Tameling said. “We were able to limit our errors right from the get-go. The guys came out ready to play. We’ve had some slow starts like we had in the second set tonight, and we have to battle back, but we started well.”
The Eagles from Stockton got untracked late in the opening set, which ended on a kill from 6-foot-7 Ripon Christian middle Darren Van Groningen. The momentum carried over in game 2, as they jumped ahead, 6-1. A dink from Tyler Yeng (four kills) gave McNair its largest lead of the match, 12-6.
The Knights battled back and momentarily surged ahead 13-12 after back-to-back aces from Trevor Van Groningen, but McNair was quick to answer.
Successive kills from Chase Yang (three kills) Yeng backed by an ace from Tyler Vang had the Eagles back up, 19-16.
Ripon Christian closed the set with an impressive 9-1 runs sparked by a kill and an ace from Mason Tameling. Van Groningen and Wentworth combined for block to give the Knights set point, and Ian Brown ended it with an ace.
“Had a little hiccup in the second set,” Mason Tameling said. “We were missing serves over and over — you can’t score points when you miss serves. We ended up taking care of business.”
In the third set, Wentworth landed a spike that tied it at 6-6. The younger Tameling served the next five points, and the Knights never trailed from there.
With only one 6-footer, McNair struggled to match the Knights up front.
Tameling led RC with 13 kills, three aces, five digs and three assists. Trevor Van Groningen added 10 kills, two blocks, two aces and four digs. Darren Van Groningen (six kills, three blocks, five digs, ace), Wentworth (five kills, block, seven digs) and Dylan Segaar (three kills, two blocks) also keyed the front row.
Libero Ian Brown collected seven digs. Danny Lambdin handled setting duties with fellow senior Luke Dorn nursing a sore knee, racking up 30 assists to go with two kills, two walks and six digs.
With some big leads late in the first and third sets, Ripon Christian was able to get some of its JV call-ups — such as 6-4 setter Hans Schoolland and Arie Buwalda — some postseason experience.
“I think it’s been the staple of our program,” coach Tameling said. “We bring in the younger guys to get some reps for them, so that when they get to the next level they’re ready for it. When Mason was a freshman, he was playing with guys such as Joel (Van Groningen), Josiah (Reif) and Justin (Hofman), and they brought him up to their level. This is the same thing, and that’s how you grow your program.”
Ripon Christian is now a win away from getting a shot at its fourth section championship. Up next is a semifinal with a friendly foe in third-seeded Lathrop, which the Knights swept in their season opener on Feb. 27. They’re in the semifinal round for a sixth consecutive season.
“We’ve been here before, we know them well and we know what it’s going to take, so we’re excited for it,” Mason Tameling said. “It’s a long journey to get here, and we know we shouldn’t take it for granted that we’re here.”
