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Ripon, RC open NorCal playoffs Tuesday at home
NorCal girls volleyball
Ripon Christian outside hitter Annika Jung spikes against East Union’s Camille Christensen in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff opener on Oct. 27. - photo by SEAN KAHLER

Denied its seventh Sac-Joaquin Section championship for a second straight year, Ripon is set up to make up a run for its first state championship.

The NorCal Regionals begins tonight with Ripon seeded third in Division III. Meanwhile, rival Ripon Christian begins their quest for a fourth state crown and also gets to host its opener as the No. 6 seed in Division IV.

Ripon (27-5) dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Nevada Union (36-14) in the SJS D-III final Saturday at Cosumnes River College. Nevada Union, 0-3 all-time in state finals, is seeded second in Division III.

Central Coast Section Division IV runner-up Pacific Grove (27-5) was awarded the top seed.

Ripon opens with No. 14 Washington (23-8) of San Francisco. The Eagles upset Lincoln in five sets last Tuesday, Nov. 3 to win the San Francisco City Section championship.

A victory gets Ripon another home match, with the winner of No. 6 Bullard (26-17) and No. 11 Roseville (20-18) coming to town. Ripon swept Roseville in the SJS semifinals, and Bullard is the Central Section Division III runner-up.

Ripon Christian, swept by NU in the SJS semifinals in its last outing, will get reacquainted with a familiar foe tonight with 11th-seeded West Valley (33-6), the Northern Section Division III champ.

These two have squared off six times since 2022, and the Knights won all of them — three in NorCal entanglements. The 2022 Ripon Christian squad stunned West Valley in five sets in the regional semifinals on the way to the front end of back-to-back state championships. Kayla Kootstra starred on the 1999 Division V state championship squad as a player and coached the 2022 and 2023 teams to the Divisions IV and III titles, respectively.

RC owns the most state titles among SJS members as well as the most SJS championships with 19.

The NorCal Division IV bracket is topped by two-time reigning state champion Immanuel (25-16) of Reedley. The Eagles are 4-1 all-time in state finals. The Eagles are also the reigning Central Section Division IV titlist.

Escalon (22-11) is the No. 2 seed, and No. 3 Santa Cruz (22-10) is the Knights’ potential second-round opponent, should they win. Santa Cruz opens with N. 14 Durham (29-5).

The state finals take place Nov. 21 at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.