Stone Ridge Christian rebounds for CIF NorCal Regional volleyball win

Count Ellie Ann Vander Dussen as one of the Stone Ridge Christian High School volleyball players happy about playing another match in their cozy, little gym.

For one reason, the junior libero dreads long trips.

“It’s so much better playing at home,” Vander Dussen said. “We have a home-field advantage. We’re more comfortable, we have our fans, and no travel. I get car sick really easy, so I hate traveling.”

The fourth-seeded Knights (21-11) took care of business at home Tuesday night, sweeping No. 5 Anderson Valley of Boonville 25-14, 25-15, 25-15 in the first round of the Northern California Regional Division VI playoffs.

Stone Ridge Christian will face top seed and defending NorCal champion San Francisco Waldorf (29-4), which swept the California School for the Deaf 25-16, 25-22, 25-10 on Tuesday. The semifinal match will be at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Knights looked much more comfortable and relaxed on their home court, playing with the low ceilings, than they did Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Woodland Christian with the pressure of trying to win a Sac-Joaquin Section championship.

“We do have home-field advantage,” Stone Ridge Christian coach Ken Shaw said. “Although the other team told us how much they love our gym. We did have the stress of trying to win sections on Saturday and we played a dynamite team.

“This was a very good team and their main weapons were their middles, but they weren’t able to get them the ball much.”

The Knights dictated the match from the start as hitters Justine De Jager (11 kills and five aces), Sarah Jordan (10 kills) and Aubriana Vander Woude (eight kills) had the Panthers on their heels.

Stone Ridge Christian closed the first set with a 13-3 run with contributions across the rotation. Jordan hammered home a kill to start the rally and softly tipped a ball over the block for set point. In between, Morgan McCary had two kills from the right side, Dana Brown and Alexis Louters had blocks, and McCary and Marina Ontis recorded aces.

The Knights jumped on the Panthers early in the second set, opening a 9-2 lead as De Jager racked up four kills and Louters served two aces.

“My seniors really stepped up tonight,” Shaw said. “Justine and Alexis both played well. We talked (Monday) about senior leadership, and they were able to show that tonight. They did a fabulous job.”

De Jager was going to do everything she could to extend the season

“It’s so exciting,” De Jager said. “We really didn’t want it to end yet. We’re really happy to keep it going.”

The Knights widened the second-set lead to 18-6 with the help of three kills from Jordan and cruised to a 2-0 lead.

Anderson Valley (23-6) came out strong in the third set, but Stone Ridge Christian closed the match with a 16-6 run. Jordan led the way with three kills, Vander Woude had two and Louters served two aces.

“We’re not ready for this to end,” Vander Dussen said. “We were super pumped to play for a section title, and to lose it really got us downhearted. Winning this has us strong hearted again.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian rebounds for CIF NorCal Regional volleyball win."