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4/6/2011 Lasers play tough, but fall to Orange Coast at home

The Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team played Orange Coast a lot tougher this time around, but it still wasn’t enough to get a win in a Pacific Coast Conference match on Wednesday at Irvine Valley.

The Lasers, who were swept by the Pirates at OCC three weeks ago, gave the Pirates all they could handle in the final three games before Orange Coast pulled out the victory.

Orange Coast came out on top, 25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, to remain at least a tie for first in the conference standings. OCC went into the match tied with Grossmont for first.

The Pirates improved their record to 14-2 overall and 9-1 in conference. Irvine Valley remained in third place in the standings, but fell another match back of Orange Coast and Grossmont.

The Lasers’ record slipped to 9-6 overall and 5-4 in conference.

It was IVC’s second straight defeat. Coast pulled away midway through the first game. Up, 10-9, the Pirates went on a 9-2 run capped by a kill by Jeff Patton to go ahead, 19-11.

IVC only got as close as five points the rest of the way at 24-19. A serving error by Irvine Valley gave Orange Coast the first game.

The second game was tight throughout. Orange Coast only trailed once in the game and that was early. But there were five ties and the two teams weren’t separated by more than three points the entire game.

Orange Coast took its largest lead at 24-20 on a combo block by James Anderson and McKay Smith. IVC got back to within 24-22 on a kill by Brandon Directo and then a block by Kevin Fiske. But OCC closed out the game on the next point on a kill by Patton.

The Lasers broke open a close third game late. Tied, 17-17, the Lasers went on a 5-0 run which featured kills by Directo and Tommy Tsoi and a couple of OCC errors.

Directo set up game point with a kill and then an Orange Coast hitting error put IVC right back in the match. The third game had 10 ties, including at 21-21 and 23-23. An ace by Directo pulled Garrett Komisarek

Irvine Valley into the 23-23 tie.

But OCC responded with a kill by Chris Pratt to go ahead, 24-23. And then the Pirates earned the win on a kill during a thrilling final point in which both teams had chances and Directo made two diving digs to keep IVC chasing until the ball finally went down.

“I like that we showed that we had a little fight in us,” IVC Coach Ki Yi said. “It shows that we have the capability to play with these kinds of teams. Grossmont and Orange Coast are better than us right now, but we aren’t far off. We were right there with them tonight.”

Orange Coast was led by Jeff Patton with 13 kills, Chris Pratt with 12 kills and four blocks, McKay Smith with 11 kills and five blocks, Danny Baker with nine digs and James Anderson with 44 assists.

Irvine Valley got 22 kills and four blocks from Directo, 12 kills from Tsoi, eight kills and three blocks from Mark Metrakos, 16 digs from Chris Reames, 11 digs from Garrett Komisarek and 41 assists from Kevin Fiske.

Irvine Valley hosts San Diego City in another conference match on Friday at 6 p.m.

3/30/2011 Men's volleyball team back on track after sweeping Mesa

A week off from matches did the Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team some good. After getting swept by Pacific Coast Conference-leading Grossmont on the road last Wednesday, Irvine Valley put together one of its most dominating performances of the season in sweeping San Diego Mesa, 25-14, 26-16, 25-11 Wednesday at home.

Irvine Valley improved its record to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in conference. San Diego Mesa slipped to 1-13 overall and 1-7 in conference.

The Lasers went into the match in third place in the conference standings, two wins behind Grossmont and one behind second-place Orange Coast.

“The guys did just what they were supposed to do tonight,” IVC co-coach Tom Pestolesi said.

Irvine Valley was led by sophomore outside hitters Brandon Directo and Caleb Brophy. Directo finished with nine kills and 12 digs, while Brophy had eight kills, four blocks and four aces. Freshman outside hitter Tommy Tsoi chipped in with eight kills and freshman middle blocker Adam Johnson added two kills and two blocks.

Freshman opposite Ryan Sullivan finished with three blocks and five digs and freshman setter Kevin Fiske finished up with 19 assists and three digs.

Irvine Valley plays at Golden West on Friday and then plays host to maybe its biggest match of the season next Wednesday against Orange Coast.

3/23/2011 Irvine Valley swept by conference-leading Grossmont

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team fell into third place in the Pacific Coast Conference standings after suffering a three-game loss at Grossmont Wednesday night. Grossmont, which is in first place in conference, came out on top, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19.

Irvine Valley's record slipped to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in conference.

IVC trailes Grossmont and Orange Coast in the standings. Irvine Valley hit just .191 as a team in the match Wednesday.

Freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos was really the only IVC offensive weapon to have a solid night. Metrakos hit .550 and finished with 12 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Brandon Directo finished with nine kills, two blocks and three digs and sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy added five kills and six digs.

IVC got seven digs from sophomore libero Chris Reames and 33 assists from freshman setter Kevin Fiske in the defeat.

The Lasers have the rest of the week off and host San Diego Mesa next Wednesday at 6 p.m.

3/18/2011 Men's volleyball team has little trouble with Palomar

The Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team prepped for one of its biggest matches of the season with its second straight sweep.

The Lasers had no problem handling Palomar, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17, in a Pacific Coast Conference match Friday night at Irvine Valley.

It won’t be as easy for IVC next Wednesday, though, when the team plays at Grossmont, which led the conference with an undefeated record of 5-0 heading into Friday night.

“From everything we have heard they are tough,” Irvine Valley Coach Ki Yi said of Grossmont. “They are the team to beat in conference. It is going to be a challenge.”

Yi is feeling pretty good about his team after it handled San Diego City and then Palomar – both in three games – this week. The Lasers rolled right through the Comets on Friday.

The only close game was the second one when it was tied, 15-15. But Irvine Valley closed out the game scoring 10 of the final 14 points to win.

Freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos killed a Palomar overpass and then sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy served an ace to end the game.

Irvine Valley led, 8-5, in the third game and then proceeded to score nine straight points to take complete control.

Brophy had two kills, sophomore outside hitter Brandon Directo added a kill and freshman opposite Ryan Sullivan had a block during the run.

Freshman outside hitter Paul Park later set up match point with a kill and freshman middle blocker Kevin Campbell ended the match with a kill.

Brophy was IVC’s standout on the night with 12 kills, four blocks and three aces. Directo added 11 kills and seven digs, Metrakos had eight kills and three blocks and freshman outside hitter Tommy Tsoi contributed six kills.

Sophomore libero Chris Reames had five digs, freshman setter Kevin Fiske finished with 20 assists and freshman Garrett Komisarek added 17 assists.

Irvine Valley plays at Grossmont next Wednesday at 6 p.m. in its only match of the week.

3/16/2011 Lasers sweep San Diego City on the road, Metrakos has 14 kills

Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team bounced back from a tough three-game loss at Orange Coast last Friday with a 25-22, 26-24, 31-29 Pacific Coast Conference win at San Diego City on Wednesday.

The win improved Irvine Valley’s record to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference. Freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos led the way with 14 kills.

He ended up hitting .650 with just one error on 20 attempts. Metrakos also had six blocks.

IVC finished with 17 blocks on the night. Freshman Kevin Ringuette added 11 kills and sophomore Caleb Brophy had 10 kills in the victory.

Sophomore Chris Reames chipped in with 10 digs and Brophy had eight digs for the Lasers. Irvine Valley currently sits in second place in the conference standings.

The Lasers are tied with Orange Coast with one loss each for second. Grossmont is at the top of the conference with a record of 5-0.

Irvine Valley hosts Palomar (1-9, 1-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. and then has a big match at Grossmont next Wednesday.

3/11/2011 Men's volleyball team has four-match win streak halted by OCC

Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team had its four-match win streak snapped at Orange Coast on Friday.

The Lasers also suffered their first loss in Pacific Coast Conference play with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 defeat to the host Pirates. The match took just a little over an hour to complete and was the first win by Orange Coast over Irvine Valley in two seasons.

Orange Coast improved its record to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in conference, while IVC slipped to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in conference. Sophomore outside hitter Brandon Directo led Irvine Valley with 12 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy added 11 kills, freshman outside hitter Tommy Tsoi finished with seven kills and freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos had six kills and four blocks.

Freshman setter Kevin Fiske ended with 40 assists and five digs. Sophomore libero Chris Reames also had five digs.

Troy Tomasello led Coast with nine kills.

The first game was tied at 18-18, but then OCC earned a point with a kill. A wide return by the Lasers and then a combo block for a point by the Pirates gave Orange Coast a 21-18 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the way to close as Coast closed out the opener.

Irvine Valley jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second game and held a 11-5 advantage when the Pirates scored six straight points to tie things at 11-11.

Irvine Valley regained the lead at 15-13 before another six-point run by Orange Coast. Orange Coast led, 19-15, when Irvine Valley went on a 7-3 run to tie it at 22-22. Two straight kills and a net violation by Irvine Valley gave the second game to the Pirates.

Game three was tied, 15-15, when Orange Coast scored four straight points to take control. Two of those points came on blocks.

Irvine Valley plays again on Wednesday, traveling to San Diego City for a 6 p.m. conference match.

3/9/2011 IVC beats Golden West in four, Orange Coast up next

It wasn’t another sweep, but the Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team kept its win streak alive.

The Lasers defeated Golden West in four games, 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22, in a Pacific Coast Conference match Wednesday night at Irvine Valley.

The Lasers recorded their fourth straight victory and improved their record to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in conference. IVC had won the previous three matches during this streak in three-straight games.

Golden West’s record fell to 4-5 overall and 0-3 in conference.

Irvine Valley raced to a win in the first game behind six kills in seven attempts from sophomore outside hitter Brandon Directo and five kills in five attempts from freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos.

Directo was even better in the second game, which Irvine Valley held on to win, with eight kills. But Irvine Valley couldn’t close out the match in the third game.

IVC hit just 19 percent as a team in the game and Golden West pushed the match to game four. The game was close throughout with neither team up by more than three points until Irvine Valley surged ahead late.

There were seven ties in all in the game. Down, 13-12, IVC scored four points in a row to go ahead, 16-13. Freshman outside hitter Kevin Ringuette had three kills during the run. But Golden West tied it at 16-16 after three Laser hitting errors.

Ringuette came back with another kill, however, to give Irvine Valley the lead for good at 17-16. Ahead, 19-17, IVC scored three points in a row to take control for good. A kill by Ringuette and then a block and a kill by Metrakos put the Lasers in front, 22-17.

Golden West got within 24-22 later on, but IVC sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy ended the match with a kill off the block.

Directo finished with 18 kills and 11 digs to lead the way. Metrakos had 15 kills and seven blocks, freshman middle blocker Adam Johnson finished with eight kills, Brophy had eight kills and eight digs and Ringuette contributed seven kills.

Sophomore libero Chris Reames also chipped in nine digs for Irvine Valley.

The Lasers have a big conference match on Friday, playing at Orange Coast at 6 p.m.

3/4/2011 Men's volleyball team opens conference with easy win

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team started Pacific Coast Conference play Friday with a 25-12, 25-19, 25-19 sweep at San Diego Mesa.

It was the squad's third three-game win in a row and improved its record to 5-2 overall.

Sophomore Brandon Directo finished with 11 kills and four digs, freshman Kevin Ringuette had eight kills and sophomore Caleb Brophy ended with five kills and two aces for the Lasers in the win. Sophomore Chris Reames added 16 digs.

Freshman Kevin Fiske and sophomore Trevor Rowell shared the setting duties on the night. Fiske had 17 assists and five digs and Rowell finished with 15 assists.

Irvine Valley is back at home next Wednesday, hosting Golden West in a 6 p.m. conference contest.

2/25/2011 Lasers sweep Pierce at home to end non-conference play

The Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team won its second match in a row and second sweep in a row with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 non-conference win over Los Angeles Pierce Friday afternoon at Irvine Valley.

Irvine Valley improved its record to 4-2 overall. Pierce, which had a three-match win streak snapped, saw its record slip to 5-2 on the season.

Pierce’s only prior loss had been to IVC OEC rival Orange Coast in five games.

“This was huge for us,” Irvine Valley Coach Ki Yi said. “There is definitely a lot of potential with this team and we are starting finding our rhythm a little bit.”

Irvine Valley jumped out to big leads and cruised to wins in both the first and third games.

It was the second game that the Lasers had to grind out and was the difference in the match. Pierce took a 6-3 lead early in the second game on a block by AK Gharwal.

Irvine Valley later took a 12-11 lead on an ace by Tommy Tsoi. Pierce scored the next four points in a row and took a 15-12 lead on another kill by Gharwal. Pierce was up, 17-14, when IVC turned the game around.

Behind the serving of sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy, the Lasers went on an 8-0 run. The first two points of the run came thanks to Pierce errors. Freshman outside hitter Kevin Ringuette came up with a block to tie it at 17-17.

A yellow card on Pierce resulted in a point for Irvine Valley and an 18-17 lead. Brophy then followed with two aces in a row to push the lead to 20-17. Ringuette and freshman setter Kevin Fiske combined for a block for a point and IVC was ahead, 21-17.

After a Pierce timeout, Ringuette earned a kill off the Pierce block to give IVC a 22-17 lead. And freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos finished off the run with a block on Pierce’s Jon Suisa for a 23-17 IVC advantage.

IVC closed out the decisive second game three points later on a Pierce hitting error.

For the match, Brophy paced IVC with 10 kills. Ringuette had eight kills, Metrakos finished with seven kills, five blocks and three aces, freshman middle blocker Adam Johnson added five kills and three blocks and Fiske contributed 35 assists.

Irvine Valley hit over .400 as a team in the match, led by Johnson at .714 and Brophy at .529.

“I thought Caleb and Kevin did great jobs for us, Tommy (Tsoi) came in and gave us a lift and Fiske really set a nice match,” Yi said. “This was a good win. We just need to keep it going.”

Irvine Valley doesn’t play again until March 4 when it opens Pacific Coast Conference action at San Diego Mesa.

2/23/2011 IVC has no problem with Santa Barbara City

The Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team finally got a quick match and an easy win. After seeing their last three contests go to five games – with two of those resulting in losses – the Lasers took care of business Wednesday night, beating Santa Barbara City in three-straight games.

Irvine Valley came out on top, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16, in the non-conference match at Irvine Valley. The win improved the Lasers’ record to 3-2 overall. Santa Barbara City slipped to 3-3 on the season.

“We needed this,” Irvine Valley Coach Ki Yi said. “It was nice to see us pull it together. Hopefully this is the start of something. All win streaks have to start somewhere.”

Irvine Valley was coming off a frustrating five-game loss to Moorpark at home last Friday.

“We’ve had our issues and our play has been inconsistent,” Yi said. “We just need to build on what we did tonight.”

The Lasers were in control of each and every game Wednesday night on their way to the victory.

Sophomore outside hitter Brandon Directo led Irvine Valley in kills for the fifth-straight match. He finished with 12 in 26 attempts. Directo added four digs and two aces.

Freshman outside hitter Kevin Ringuette had a strong match with nine kills and just one error in 16 attempts. Freshman middle blockers Mark Metrakos and Adam Johnson each contributed seven kills.

Metrakos also had four blocks and three aces for the Lasers.

Sophomore outside hitter Caleb Brophy finished with six kills and a team-high 10 digs, sophomore libero Chris Reames had eight digs and freshman setter Kevin Fiske ran the offense with 38 assists.

Irvine Valley plays at home again on Friday against Moorpark. The match has been moved to 2 p.m. because IVC hosts a men’s basketball playoff game that night at 7.

2/19/2011 Lasers lose another tough five-game match

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team went five games for the third consecutive match Friday at home.

The Lasers came up on the short end, losing to Moorpark, 25-23, 20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 11-15, to see their record slip to 2-2 overall.

Sophomore Brandon Directo led IVC for kills for the fourth straight contest. He finished with 21 to go along with eight digs.

Freshman Adam Johnson had 12 kills and three blocks and freshmen Zack Minnie and Tommy Tsoi each added 10 kills.

Minnie also chipped in six digs and two aces.

Sophomore Chris Reames finished with 15 digs and freshman Kevin Fiske ended with 40 assists for the Lasers.

The match was the first of three consecutive home contests for IVC. Irvine Valley next hosts Santa Barbara on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

2/17/2011 Volleyball team wins at Santa Monica in five

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team rallied from a two-game deficit to beat Santa Monica in five games in a non-conference match on Wednesday at Santa Monica.

Irvine Valley dropped the first two games, but then came back to win, 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-7. The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 2-1 on the season.

Sophomore Brandon Directo finished with 18 kills, 14 digs and five blocks. Freshman Tommy Tsoi had 15 kills and four blocks, freshman Mark Metrakos added 14 kills and six blocks.

Sophomore Chris Reames finished with 15 digs and freshman Kevin Fiske contributed 50 assists.

Irvine Valley plays its first home match of the season on Friday, hosting Moorpark at 2 p.m. The early start time is because IVC has home basketball games following at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

2/9/2011 Lasers lose tough five-game match at El Camino

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team looked to be on its way to a second straight win to open the 2011 season.

Then things took a turn. Irvine Valley won the first two games at El Camino, but then lost the next three in a five-game defeat.

The Warriors beat the Lasers, 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-13, in a non-conference match Wednesday night.

Irvine Valley was led by sophomores Brandon Directo and Caleb Brophy.

Directo finished with 19 kills and Brophy had 15 kills.

Freshman middle blocker Mark Metrakos added 13 kills. IVC plays again next Wednesday at Santa Monica at 6 p.m.

2/4/2011 Men's volleyball team sweeps at Long Beach City

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team had its first big test of the season Friday night and the Lasers passed with flying colors.

IVC went to Long Beach City and beat the Vikings in three straight games. The Lasers came out on top, 25-19, 25-18, 25-19.

Long Beach city was coming off of capturing its own tournament last weekend. Sophomore Brandon Directo led Irvine Valley with 12 kills.

Sophomore Caleb Brophy added 10 kills and freshman setter Kevin Fiske finished with 37 assists.

"Fiske spread the ball around well and the team passed a ridiculous 2.6," IVC Director of Volleyball Tom Pestolesi said. "We played efficient and pulled away late in each game."

Irvine Valley plays again next Wednesday at El Camino at 6 p.m.

1/27/2011 Volleyball team opens season in Long Beach City tournament

Irvine Valley men's volleyball team gets its season going on Saturday when it takes part in the 12-team Long Beach City College Invitational.

Matches start at 9 a.m. with the championship match of the tourney scheduled for 5 p.m.

Some of the state’s top teams will be competing at the tournament.

Pool 1 includes Long Beach, L.A. Pierce, Golden West, and San Diego City colleges. In pool 2 are Orange Coast, El Camino, Santa Barbara, and a LBCC alumni team.

And in pool 3 are Irvine Valley, 2010 state champion Moorpark, Santa Monica, and Hope International University. The top two teams in each pool advance to the championship round, with the bottom two heading to the consolation bracket.

Matches will be played best two sets out of three, with set three capped at 17 points.

IVC starts the tournament with a match against Santa Monica at 9 a.m. It will then play Hope International at 11 a.m. and Moorpark at 2 p.m.

Championship-bracket matches will be played beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Irvine Valley Valley defeated Long Beach City, 30-27, in the championship final to win the 2010 tournament. Irvine Valley, under Head Coach Ki Yi, went on to capture the Pacific Coast Conference title and reached the state championship semifinals last season.

Caleb Brophy returns to lead the Lasers in 2011. IVC also gets back libero Chris Reames and outside hitter Brandon Directo, who both sat out last year.

4/21/2010 Lasers' season comes to an end at state

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team has persevered all season long.

But the Lasers couldn't do it one more time on Thursday night at the state tournament.

Moorpark beat Irvine Valley in five games, 30-22, 30-24, 28-30, 31-33, 15-13 in the 2010 CCCAA State Championship at Orange Coast College.

"I thought we were going to come back and win," Irvine Valley Coach Ki Yi said. "We gave it everything we had. We couldn't gut this one out."

The defeat snapped a 10-match win streak for IVC. The Lasers end the season with a record of 16-3 overall.

Irvine Valley won the Pacific Coast Conference title by battling back from two games down to beat both Golden West and Orange Coast.

But after a very slow start, they couldn't win three games in a row against Moorpark.

"We were tight and we pressed a little bit," Yi said about IVC's start. "We weren't at ease. I think we wanted it so bad and you could totally see that."

Irvine Valley led, 10-7, in the first game, but dropped seven points in a row to fall behind, 14-10. The Lasers never recovered in the opening game in the 30-22 defeat.

The Lasers fell behind quickly in the second game, 13-6, and had to play catch up. Moorpark went up, 23-13, and was ahead, 29-18, when IVC finally started to put things together.

The Lasers scored six straight points before losing the game on a player going into the net.

But Irvine Valley gained some momentum.

"It was a big play by Alex (Reis) that helped turn us around," Yi said. "He went into the stands to dig a ball and showed everyone that we can't give up. He made that great diving play and then dug three more balls after that.

"At the next timeout I told them to put their hearts into it like Alex. Everyone needed to work as hard as he was."

Tied, 22-22, in the third game, Irvine Valley scored five straight points to take control at 27-22. Freshman outside hitter Caleb Brophy had two kills during the run.

A kill and then a block by Moorpark's Josh Howley got Moorpark to within 28-27. But Irvine Valley sided out the rest of the way and got a kill by sophomore middle blocker Taylor Galliano to end the game.

The Lasers used a 7-0 run early in the fourth game to go ahead, 14-6, four of the points were on blocks and three of them came off the hands of sophomore middle blocker Corey Brophy.

Irvine Valley led, 27-19 when Moorpark pushed back. The Raiders outscored Irvine Valley, 11-3, to have match point at 30-29. But a kill by Cornell tied it at 30-30. Moorpark had another match point at 31-30, but Reis kept IVC alive with a kill.

After a Moorpark hitting error, another kill by Reis ended the game, 33-31.

A fifth game decided things.

But IVC had to play it without Pacific Coast Conference player of the year Nick Castello. The sophomore libero, who is headed to play the University of Hawaii next season, had to leave the court late in the fourth game because of severe leg cramps. He didn't return.

"Any time you lose your best player it is tough," Yi said. "I thought we were in a real rhythm with him out there. He was starting to dig everything."

The fifth game was still close until the end.

But Irvine Valley never led.

Moorpark created a little separation, taking a 13-11 lead. Irvine Valley got to within 13-12 and then 14-13 and had a chance to tie it. But Corey Brophy hit a serve in the net to end the match.

IVC hit just .187 as a team in the contest, including only .121 and .154 in the first two games. Reis ended with 24 kills and 12 digs, Caleb Brophy had 17 kills, Galliano had 12 kills and six blocks, Castello finished with 17 digs and sophomore setter Garret Dvoracek had 63 assists and six blocks.

"Tonight was disappointing," Yi said. "But this was a fun team to coach and we still had a really great season."

4/14/2010 Men's volleyball team wins conference title

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team won the Pacific Coast Conference title outright with a 30-28, 30-25, 30-25 win at Grossmont .

The win improved the team's record to 16-2 overall and 11-1 in conference. The Lasers finished a match ahead of Orange Coast in the final standings.

It was the program's fourth conference title in the last five years. It won the Orange Empire Conference crown in 2006 and the Pacific Coast Conference titles in 2007 and 2008 before finishing second last season.

Irvine Valley, which earned an automatic bid into the state tournament, was led by sophomore outside hitter Alex Reis.

Reis finished with 16 kills and hit .387 in the match.

Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Galliano ended with seven kills and four blocks and freshman outside hitter Jared Mammen had seven kills and four blocks.

Sophomore libero Nick Castello had 14 digs and three players shared setting duties. Sophomore James Alexander had 17 assists, freshman Trevor Rowell contributed 15 assists and sophomore Garret Dvoracek added 13 assists.

IVC hit .324 as a team in the match, finished with four solo blocks and 14 block assists and had 26 digs.

"We’ve dealt with some challenges this season, but every single time these guys stepped up and made things better," first-year IVC head coach Ki Yi said. "They’ve showed a lot of class and a lot of heart. This is a very cool team to coach and I couldn’t be happier with what they have accomplished."

At the conclusion of the regular season, Yi was named the conference's coach of the year and Castello was named the player of the year.

IVC moves on to the state tournament at Orange Coast College.

4/5/2010 Lasers rally for big win at Orange Coast

The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team never said die Friday night in its biggest match of the season at Orange Coast.

The Lasers came back from being two gamed down and then rallied with four straight points in game five to steal the win away from the Pirates, 26-30, 28-30, 30-24, 30-18, 16-14 before a frenzied crowd at OCC's Peterson Gym.

The win moved Irvine Valley into first place in the Pacific Coast Conference.

Former OCC player Alex Reis once again helped lead his new team over his old team, this time, on the road. He and Caleb Brophy ripped 19 kills for IVC (13-2, 8-1), while libero Nick Castello came up with 28 digs and Garret Dvoracek dished out 65 assists.

For the Pirates (13-2, 7-2), the loss all but wipes them out of contention for a PCC title, with the Lasers sweeping Coast and giving IVC the tiebreaker edge.

Troy Tomasello led OCC with 22 kills and four blocks, while Harrison Carroll added 18. Harrison Phelps had nine digs, while Paul Leon contributed 51 assists.

It was all Coast through the first two games. In the opener, strong hitting by Tomasello and Carroll gave the Pirates a 14-6 lead. IVC moved to within two at 20-18 before OCC regained the momentum with a 7-4 run and never looked back.

In the second game, OCC again jumped out to an early advantage and held a 28-23 lead before IVC showed life, getting to within a point at 29-28 before a long Lasers' serve gave Coast a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lasers' first lead of the night came on the opening point of game three, but OCC regrouped. The Pirates carried a 22-20 advantage and were on the verge of a sweep.

From there, however, Irvine Valley found another gear and took the play to the Pirates. They finished Game 3 with a 10-2 run to stay alive in the match, then, dominated the Pirates in Game 4, outscoring Coast 40-20 from that two-point deficit late in game three.

That run forced a winner-take-all fifth game to 15 points.

Irvine Valley took an early 6-3 lead in game five, but then the Pirates responded by scoring 10 of the next 13 points to grab a 13-10 advantage.

Two points away from defeat, IVC answered with a Reis kill and a block by Caleb Brophy to make it 13-12, forcing OCC into a timeout.

Brad Hemmerling responded with a kill to give the Pirates match point at 14-12.

But IVC's Corey Brophy ripped a kill from the middle to make it 14-13 and a block by Taylor Galliano tied up the match at 14.

A Carroll kill attempt sailed wide, giving IVC a match-point opportunity and after a Coast return was dug up, Galliano found an opening in the OCC defense for the game-winning point.

Irvine Valley hosts Palomar this Friday at 6 p.m. in another conference match.