Neighboring rivals Ripon and Ripon Christian have a score settle tonight, while Manteca hits the road to face an unfamiliar opponent.

All three schools are in the Division IV bracket for the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Regional Championships.

Ripon Christian reeled its 17th Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship on Saturday, sweeping Vacaville Christian at Ripon High. The Knights (35-5) were elevated to D-IV for NorCals and awarded the No. 7 seed.

Tenth-seeded Ripon (22-10) was swept by Sonora in the Division IV semifinals last week. The winner plays either No. 2 University Prep (37-5) of Redding or No. 15 Justin-Siena (16-8) of Napa.

“We’re just happy and thankful for our season to be continuing,” Ripon coach Chuck Sterni said. “It doesn’t matter who they put in front of us.”

His Indians, of course, know plenty about who will be standing across from them at Ripon Christian. The NorCal opener is also a rubber match after the two clubs split their previous showdowns this season. RC swept a best-of-three match en route to winning the Golden Valley Tournament title in September, while Ripon got even a month later with a four-set upset at its own North Gym. The Knights were working through some injuries and roster changes and have since won 10 of their next 11 matches.

“We had a little bit of upheaval,” RC coach Kayla Kootstra said. “And anytime you have players hurt or changes taking place it lends to a little bit of instability. Ripon was playing really well at that point, so it was just a combination of things. We’re hoping to be a little more settled now. They’re a good team but so are we. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow and hoping the girls can pull out a win.”

Kootstra added she was “completely shocked” that Ripon was matched with her team to start NorCals. The last time these programs met in the postseason was back in 2012 when Ripon Christian swept in the second round of the SJS Division IV playoffs. The Knights were bumped up a division due to the Section’s “continued success” rule, and Ripon made that matchup possible by stunning higher-seeded Summerville on the road.

“I guess there’s some good and bad to it,” Kootstra said. “We obviously have some history and we’ve each other twice this year, but at the same time it’s fun because the girls are friends, it’s a local (event) and there will be a fun crowd tomorrow.”

Kootstra is looking to win her second state title, this time as coach — she starred on Ripon Christian’s CIF Division V championship team in 1999.

Seeded ninth, Manteca (26-7) is in the NorCal tourney for just the second time since 1990. The Buffaloes were paired with No. 8 Buchanan, a team with a deceiving 9-26 record.

Many of the Bears’ losses are to powerhouse programs. They went 0-10 in the competitive Tri-River Athletic Conference, which features Central Section Division I champion Clovis West. Buchanan was placed in Division III for its Section playoffs and finished as the runner-up after falling to St. Joseph of Santa Maria, 25-11, 21-25, 19-25, 25-22, 12-15.

“We’ve watched a little bit of film and do know a few things about them,” Manteca coach Robin Chandler said. “They have good players, of course, otherwise they would not be where they are. I think everybody at this level is going to be good competition, so we’re going to have to play our best game.”

Manteca lost to Christian Brothers in four games in the SJS Division III semifinals. The Valley Oak League co-champion is senior heavy and battle tested having played teams from all over Northern California at various non-league tournaments this season.

“We’ve played at higher-level tournaments and hopefully that will prepare us for NorCals,” Chandler said. “Christian Brothers was a good team, that was a good battle for us and it woke us up some. There are things we needed to clean up and we made a couple of changes as well. Hopefully it makes a difference for us to push forward.”

Mantceca’s last NorCal appearance was in 2017, a four-game loss at Liberty of Madera in the first round. A win tonight sends the Buffaloes to top-seeded Branham (26-4) of San Jose on Thursday.