Ripon Christian beats rival for D-IV section title, claiming fourth straight blue banner
When the Ripon Christian volleyball team hits its stride, there’s not much the team on the other side of the net can do.
During the Knights’ journey through the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, they showed their ability to score in bunches, dominate at the net and quickly take momentum away from their opponents.
Saturday afternoon in the second set of the Division IV section title game against defending champion Ripon High was the Knights’ latest display of how dangerous they can be.
The second seed scored 13 unanswered points to turn a 4-4 tie into a 17-4 lead and gain control of the momentum in the championship match. Ripon Christian coasted in the second set and won a competitive third set to secure the D-IV title, 25-21, 25-9, 25-19.
The title is the Knights’ fourth straight section championship. After winning the past three titles in Division V, they were moved up to Division IV this season. They swept each of the four opponents they faced in the section tournament.
“We’re just excited, honestly,” Ripon Christian coach Kayla Kootstra said. “Winning a section title is a big deal. At the (Sac-Joaquin Section Championship) breakfast, they talked about it, there’s only 12 teams left in our whole section. To be able to just even be in this game is exciting, and then to walk away with a win against a very good Ripon team is fun.”
The Knights broke a 16-16 tie in the first set with a 6-1 run, but Ripon would not go away. The Indians cut Ripon Christian’s lead to 22-20 but the Knights found a way to take the set’s final two points.
Ripon Christian will admit there were nerves at the start of the match. Not only were the Knights playing up a division, they were also playing against their rival. The neighboring schools are separated by just a road.
“We were nervous in the beginning but we pushed through and it worked out,” senior middle blocker Sydney Hoffman said. “They’re our rivals, there’s always a lot of competition. We just wanted to make sure we played our game.”
Strong serving from Jordan Vander Veen sparked a momentum-shifting run in the second set. The senior had four of her game-high five aces during the 13-0 run and Leah Van Wyngarden and Brynn Bohn added kills. Hoffman also came alive in the second set with two kills in the team’s final four points. Hoffman finished the match second on the team in kills with seven.
“Once you go on a serving run, no one wants to let the ball drop because you want to keep that momentum,” Vander Veen said. “It was just a very intense vibe. No one was gonna let the ball drop, which I thought was really good.”
Ripon High did all it could to make the final set interesting. After the Knights went ahead 20-14, Ripon answered with a quick four-point run, sparking a Ripon Christian timeout.
Out of the timeout, Vander Veen answered with a kill and senior Allison Brown ended the match with three straight aces. Vander Veen finished the match with 11 kills and 13 digs to lead the team and Brown added nine digs and four aces. Setter Megan Weststeyn had 29 assists.
It came down to serve and pass,” said Ripon coach Gregory Soliz. “We didn’t serve and pass well and we had a lot of errors. It just wasn’t our game. We worked hard, we just couldn’t get in a rhythm.”
The 2023 blue banner is the 19th in the Ripon Christian volleyball program’s storied history. The Knights lead the section in volleyball championships. Kootstra was a member of championship teams as a player, winning section titles and helping the program secure its first state title. After returning to the program as a coach in 2020, the Knights have won three section titles in three seasons. Hoffman, Vander Veen, Brown, Van Wyngarden and Weststeyn are all three-time champions.
“I don’t know if you can get tired of winning them because it’s a new group of girls every year,” Kootstra said. “Every year you have a new group, you have new leadership, you have a new dynamic and so I think the experience is new every year even if you have been here before. It’s special that we get to be part of a program that has such a history of doing well in sections for volleyball. And I think of that just as additional motivation.”
Both teams’ seasons continue next week in the CIF Northern California Regional Championships. State playoff brackets will be released Sunday afternoon.
Ripon will look to advance past the first round. Last season, the Indians were the No. 2 seed in Division IV but were upset in the first round by No. 15 Chico.
“I just told them that we’ll learn from it,” Soliz said. “State’s not over and it’s going to be tough, so we’ll learn from these moments and come in Monday and get ready and go again. Someone’s going to win, someone’s going to lose. At the end of the day, it was their day.”
Ripon Christian is looking to defend its state championship. The Knights could be placed in any division by the CIF. Last season, after winning a Division V section title, they were rated the No. 9 team in Division IV. They ran the table in all road games, beating Lowell in the first round and sweeping top seed Urban before winning the next three games. Half of last year’s state championship team is back this season.
“We’re really motivated,” Vander Veen said. “Today showed that we’ll do anything it takes to win. We keep getting better every day at practice, which I think is really important and just excites us more for the future. State is obviously the goal. … Every day we’re getting 1% better and I think we still have a lot of potential to reach.”
