The path to Fresno begins in Santa Cruz for the Ripon Christian boys volleyball team.

Seeded eighth in the eight-team Division III bracket, the Knights (24-15) travel to No. 1 Santa Cruz (24-13) tonight for the start of the California Interscholastic Federation Northern Regionals.

The tournament culminates with the second state championship finals on Saturday, May 30 at Fresno City College.

Ripon Christian last played on May 9 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III final, dropping a five-set heartbreaker to Beyer (29-6). The Knights can have a chance at a rematch on Thursday, should both teams win their openers — the Patriots of Modesto are seeded No. 4 and face No. 5 Moreau Catholic (22-12) of Hayward.

Santa Cruz captured the Central California Section Division II championship this past Saturday, sweeping top-seeded Carmel, 25-15, 25-18, 25-21. The Cardinals competed in the CCS Open Division the past three seasons after running the table in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League each year.

After graduating a strong senior class, they are league runners-up this year but set up to make a run at a NorCal title. They’re led by senior setters Lucas Hansen and Nathan Monroe and returning All-SCCAL second-team selections in middle blocker Guillermo Mazier and libero Lucas Kamalani.

On the other side of the NorCal bracket, CCS Division I finalist Mountain View (21-18) hosts San Francisco City Section champion Lowell (25-8) in the Nos. 3-6 matchup, while North Coast Section Division II champion and No. 2-seeded Urban (25-1) awaits No. 7 Carmel (22-6).

General admission is $9 each and $5 for students, children ages 5 and over and seniors 65-over for the first two rounds of the regional semifinals. Prices rise to $12 and $8 for the regional finals and state championships. Tickets are available only through GoFan.