Denied its seventh Sac-Joaquin Section championship for a second straight year, Ripon is set up to make up a run for its first state championship.
The NorCal Regionals begins tonight with Ripon seeded third in Division III. Meanwhile, rival Ripon Christian begins their quest for a fourth state crown and also gets to host its opener as the No. 6 seed in Division IV.
Ripon (27-5) dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Nevada Union (36-14) in the SJS D-III final Saturday at Cosumnes River College. Nevada Union, 0-3 all-time in state finals, is seeded second in Division III.
Central Coast Section Division IV runner-up Pacific Grove (27-5) was awarded the top seed.
Ripon opens with No. 14 Washington (23-8) of San Francisco. The Eagles upset Lincoln in five sets last Tuesday, Nov. 3 to win the San Francisco City Section championship.
A victory gets Ripon another home match, with the winner of No. 6 Bullard (26-17) and No. 11 Roseville (20-18) coming to town. Ripon swept Roseville in the SJS semifinals, and Bullard is the Central Section Division III runner-up.
Ripon Christian, swept by NU in the SJS semifinals in its last outing, will get reacquainted with a familiar foe tonight with 11th-se...