Ripon was undaunted by its first Trans-Valley League assignment Wednesday.

The Indians traveled to Hilmar and hung with the defending champion and 2013 Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV finalist in a four-game loss. They nearly took the Yellowjackets (1-0, 23-5 overall) to a fifth set but came up short, 11-25, 25-19, 14-25, 26-28.

“We had a good night overall but made too many errors,” Ripon coach Adrienne Beltrami said. “If we had cleaned up our service errors alone, the outcome would have been very different. 

Lauren Weibe handed out 35 assists for Ripon (0-1, 6-5), which was able to keep Hilmar on its toes with a balanced attack. Breana Barrios and Sam McCreath crushed 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while Karisa Carlson added eight.

Emily O’Brien finished with 22 digs and five aces. Weibe contributed four aces, and Jacqui Uecker had four blocks.