After two matches in the new season, Ripon coach Greg Soliz isn’t yet sure what to make of his team — other than it being very young and very talented.
Ripon swept its home opener against East Union on Monday, 25-14, 25-15, 25-15.
“It’s too soon to tell. I just wanted to switch things up, let everyone play,” Soliz said. “It’s a long season, and in the preseason (the matches) don’t mean too much right now. I’m just trying to keep everyone healthy, and it was nice to get everyone playing time. The people that did get in did a good job, so really happy with that.”
Ripon’s quartet of upperclassmen did its usual damage, but the youngsters also made their presence. Outside hitter Lilia Tuputala led all players with 11 kills, and fellow freshman Kya Cardoso amassed 11 service points, six of them aces and three digs. Sophomore Remi Wilder split setting duties with senior Alayna Sprinkle, coming up with 10 assists to go with two aces.
Ripon totaled 16 aces, and the tough serving gave East Union (2-3) fits in trying to establish its attack.
“I feel like they picked us apart on serving, and we weren’t able to reset and pass the ball,” East Union coach Tevani Liotard said. “We kind of got a little rattled.”
Senior libero Kennedy Everhart contributed 10 service points, five aces and nine digs. She fired three straight aces late in the second game, and Tuputala helped put it away with spikes for Ripon’s final two points. Earlier in the set, Cardoso served six consecutive points with three aces, as Ripon rolled to 13-6 advantage.
Third-year varsity vets Jorie Eskes and Ashlyn Malone added seven kills apiece, and Sprinkle finished with 19 assists. Sprinkle, in fact, was honored before the match for hitting the 1,000-assist milestone for her career.
Sophomore middles Elysa Meineke and Reese Bert pitched in with five kills and two blocks, respectively.
Lilyan Frye led East Union with four kills and five assists. Macie Hall Anderson also had four kills, libero Lola Alvarez collected five digs and Lucija Dayeh registered seven service points.
Despite the result, Liotard came away encouraged by the Lancers’ effort. They came off a four-match tournament, the Stockton Classic, just two days prior and were competitive with Ripon at the start of every set on Monday.
“We came out the games and played with them for those first 10 or so points, and then all of the sudden they just linked up and we kind of fell apart,” Liotard said. “There were still a lot of good things tonight. This was really our first match, and it was nice to see us come out the gate the way we did. There’s a lot to build from.”
East Union won both lower-level matches in three sets.
The Lancers host Lincoln of Stockton tonight for their home opener, while Ripon heads to Liberty Ranch in Galt on Friday.
