STOCKTON — Weston Ranch coach Debi Chavez knows when to call a timeout.
With the match hanging in the balance tied at 14-14 in the fifth set on Tuesday, the No. 4 Weston Ranch defense watched a ball fall to the floor to give No. 13 Stone Ridge Christian match point in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III first-round playoff match.
Chavez then called a timeout to vigorously address her team and it paid off.
The Cougars broke Stone Ridge’s serve and followed that with two more points for a thrilling 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 24-26, 17-15 win.
“We talked about playing to win as opposed to playing not to lose,” Chavez said.  “We haven’t won a fifth set all year.
“Due to illness, we had to shuffle things and the whole team stepped up.”
Jimmy Nguyen led the Cougars (13-3) with 23 digs. Josh Ico added 12 kills and 17 digs, Andre Salazar made 16 digs and three kills and Mailo Bayot dished out 33 assists with 10 digs and an ace.
Weston Ranch hosts No. 5 West Campus of Sacramento on Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
Ripon Christian 3, Lodi Academy 0
RIPON — The top-seeded Knights (18-2) swept No. 16 Titans (9-5), 25-12, 25-10, 25-17.
Cade Alger paced Ripon Christian with 12 kills and five digs followed by Braden Van Groningen (eight kills, three aces, four digs), Michael Kamps (five kills, 13 assists, six digs) and Jacob Van Groningen (five kills, two aces, 11 digs).
 The Knights host either No. 8 Sacramento Adventist or No. 9 Vacaville Christian on Thursday evening at 7.