Ripon’s Ashlyn Malone brought it Thursday in No. 3 Ripon’s 25-15, 25-14, 25-15 sweep of visiting sixth-seeded Bullard in the quarterfinals of the NorCal playoffs.
In the second set, Malone toed the service line with the scored knotted at 1-1 and rattled off 11 consecutive points behind four aces. She posted another service run of six points for 17 total points in that second set. She finished with 11 digs, 10 kills and seven aces.
“I think it’s really exciting that serving is just another way we can contribute to the offense,” Malone said. “The environment here is so fun, and getting to dig balls and get kills and doing it for my teammates is just so thrilling.”
Jorie Eskes led the team in kills with 12 along with three digs, three aces and an assist.
“I honestly think our setter Alayna (Sprinkle) does a great job of pushing up the offense and setting us up for success,” Eskes said. “We worked really hard on our connections throughout the season.
“Against big blockers like they had, it’s really important to swing high and fast.”
Sprinkle dished out 31 assists and chipped in four digs, three aces, two kills and a block.
“It was just so much fun,” Sprinkle said. “We knew we were going up against a really good team coming into it and we knew we had to bring it.
“I think our hitters did a great job and our passing was so good which allows me to run whoever I want, basically.”
The Knights (27-18) have a student body of 2,500 compared to barely1,000 for Ripon (29-5).
“We have done it before,” Ripon coach Greg Soliz said of playing a much-bigger school. “We’ve had to go to a bigger school the last couple of years, going to the Bay Area and to Sacramento. They put us in D-III and it is what it is. At the end of the day, you just have to play volleyball.
“The girls are playing well. I think the biggest thing right now is to have learned from that Section championship game last Saturday. Now, they are on a different path and they are treating this as a different season.”
Ella Rowe led Bullard with 13 kills.
Up next for Ripon is top-seeded Nevada Union in Grass Valley on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Miners downed Ripon 3-2 in a heartbreaker for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship last Saturday.
