Ripon’s best player may have graduated, but that doesn’t change expectations for the seven-time Sac-Joaquin Section champion.
The youth-laden Indians weathered an early onslaught from host Sierra on Friday and swept the season opener, 25-18, 25-13, 25-13.
“We’re are young with four freshmen up with some sophomore, but they’re good players,” Ripon coach Greg Soliz said. “We’re going to use this preseason to just get them used to it and get them a lot of reps. The older players have been doing great with them, and they’ve been pushing it in practice a little bit more and keeping everyone focused and locked in.
“I think our biggest thing is making sure we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Every day, we’re coming to practice with the highest standard. That’s what it’s going to take, because teams are going to come after us.”
Third-year junior outside hitter Ashlyn Malone paced Ripon with 11 kills, 20 service points, five aces and five digs. Freshman Lilia Tuputala impressed in her varsity debut with 10 kills. Right-side hitter Jorie Eskes added nine kills.
Setter Alayna Sprinkle collected 27 assists, 15 service points and four aces, while libero Kennedy Everhart led the back row with 12 digs. Eskes, Everhart and Sprinkle are the only seniors on the team.
The match marked the first without four-year standout Adriana Dorn, who spearheaded the Indians to four SJS finals and two section titles. They were runners-up in Division III last year.
“We can't really rely on one single person anymore, and so I think that makes all of our hitters step up, and I think that they're all stepping up,” Sprinkle said. “I think that they're all doing a really great job, putting the ball away for us.”
Many of the underclassmen, Ripon has eight in all, got ample playing time with big leads late in sets. Sophomore opposite Olivia Taylor made the most of her opportunities. In game 2, she had a solo block and the set-ending kill, accounting for two of Ripon’s final three points. She later closed out the match with another kill.
Ripon didn’t trail at any point in the final two sets, bursting out to 8-0 and 6-0 leads.
At the outset, it was Sierra on the front foot.
Senior standout Hannah Threet served five consecutive points, including two aces, as the Timberwolves bolted ahead 6-1 in the opening game.
The Indians slowly chiseled away at the deficit and completely turned the tide with nine unanswered points. Sprinkle was at the service line for much of it, and she tallied back-to-back aces for a 20-17 Ripon lead. Malone followed that up with a kill, and it was she who later punctuated the comeback with an ace of her own.
“We really haven’t played very many games together, and they (Sierra) have really strong hitters and they’re scrappy,” Sprinkle said of Ripon’s slow start. “A lot of our game is working off our serving and passing, and once we got our serving game down, we just took off.”
Sierra is also in transition, with new setters and defensive specialists.
The T’wolves still had a good showing from third-year junior Delicia Kivalu-Ahio, who recorded a match-high 14 kills. Threet finished with 10 service points and five aces to go with two kills, two blocks and six digs.
Luna Lopez contributed five blocks. Sophomores Hannah Dungca (11 assists, six digs) and Jadelyn Dole (nine digs) made their varsity debuts.
“We lost some players at crucial positions last year — libero, DSs (defensive specialists) and setters,” Sierra coach Danielle Deerinck said. “It’s nice to have all your hitters, but they’re still adapting to our setters.
“I think we still just need to get comfortable playing with each other and more confident on the court all around. (Ripon is) always a good team, but it’s good to play those teams, because it gives us an idea of what we need to work on.”
Sierra won the thrilling JV match, 22-25, 25-17, 17-15. Ripon prevailed in the freshman contest, 25-21, 14-25, 15-13.
