ORANGE — Ripon Christian (Ripon) twice rallied from large deficits to sweep
Central Valley Christian (Visalia) on Saturday in the CIF Division IV finals at Santiago Canyon College.
The Knights finished off their 25-19, 27-25, 25-17 sweep of the Cavaliers on a
Jordan Vander Veen kill, one of her match high 20. But it took comebacks in the first and second sets for Ripon Christian to get the opportunity to finish off the Southern California representative.
"That's where we like to play from apparently," said Knights' coach Kayla Koostra, who adds a state title as a coach to one she won in 1999 at the school. "We were down big in (some of our) NorCal matches, so it's not a situation we were unfamiliar with."
In the opening set, the Knights turned around an 11-4 deficit in the opening set to grab a 1-0 lead on six kills by Vander Veen as
Megan Weststeyn tossed up seven assists.
Vander Veen had nine kills in the second set as Ripon Christian got a huge service boost from libero
Leah Van Wyngarden, who reeled off six straight to turn a 21-18 deficit into a 23-22 lead. On that stretch, Vander Veen pounded out four straight kills. The Knights finished the second set with a
Sydney Hoffman block and a 2-0 lead.
"We started (the season) off rough and to make the state finals is pretty cool," said Central Valley Christian coach Mike Kroeze. "I never guessed we'd be here, so that was mission accomplished as coaches."
Van Wyngarden again was the difference in the third set as she ran off a string of nine service points to turn a 4-3 game into a 13-4 Knights advantage. And when junior Vander Veen finished off the match with a kill, the bench erupted into a dogpile.
"We battled all season and seemed determined not to lose," Koostra said.
