After three closely-contested sets, Ripon Christian lost steam in the end of a 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 18-25 loss at third-seeded Santa Cruz in the Division IV NorCal Regional quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Cardinals (24-10) rode the hot hand of sophomore outside hitter Leela Whiting in the final set, when she put away five of her seven kills. Standout middle hitter Georgia Keenan led them with 13 kills, while Chloe Schantz added 10 and three service aces.

Ripon Christian (17-17), seeded sixth, trailed wire-to-wire in the second set but made things interesting in the end when Brooklyn Postma and Maddie Sabala combined to block Schantz and close the Knights in, 24-23. The game ended on a service error, however.

Ripon Christian regained momentum early in game 3, racing out to an 8-2 lead.

Santa Cruz slowly chipped away at the deficit and had a little bit of luck on its side along the way. Keenan had spike denied by Kylie Koolhaas, but the ball deflected off her own head and landed uncontested on Ripon Christian’s side to inch the Cardinals closer, 10-7.

Santa Cruz’s other middle, Brielle Fultz, clinched the set with a tip followed by a kill on a serve-receive error.

Ripon Christian had some big efforts from its standout seniors.

Opposite hitter Alyssa Hofman paced the Knights with 17 kills, two blocks, 10 service points, three aces and 16 digs. Setter Rhian Heuvel also produced a double-double with 22 assists and 18 digs. Libero Lauren Mouw notched a team-high 20 digs, 16 service points and four aces.

Outside hitter Annika Jung chipped in eight kills, while Sabala had four kills and four blocks.

Sophomore Bailey Brayton contributed nine kills and 17 digs. Koolhaas finished with five kills, while Postma dished out 17 assists.

Santa Cruz will get to host again for the semifinals after 10th-seeded Bear River (36-8) upset No. 2 Escalon in a sweep. They’ll face off Saturday starting at 6 p.m.