Men's volleyball team wins LBCC tourney
Jan 29, 2007
The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team got its 2007 season off to a great start last weekend.
For just the second time in the 17 years of men's volleyball at Irvine Valley, the Lasers captured the Long Beach City College Tournament. The tournament matches count as scrimmages contests and not toward the team's overall record, but it was still quite an accomplishment for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley won all six of its matches without dropping a game.
"This actually means nothing except we really thrive on competing and going after it," Irvine Valley Coach Tom Pestolesi said. "I thought we showed excellent focus and intensity in big games. The guys came through in every clutch situations and we hope that is the trend throughout the year."
Irvine Valley started with a 30-20 victory over Utah Valley State in pool play action. The Lasers then defeated San Diego City, 30-21, 30-23, and Santa Barbara City, 32-30, 30-22.
In playoff action, Irvine Valley defeated Pierce, 34-32, and Santa Monica City, 30-19, in playoff rounds before wrapping the title up with a 30-25 win over Utah Valley State. Pierce actually had a match-point at 29-28, but the Lasers rallied for the win.
"The whole group did a nice job but Sean Grubbs and Cory Walker (Irvine High) were exceptional," Pestolesi said. "Cory was pretty much unstopable at the net."
In playoff action against Pierce, Walker had seven kills and no errors in eight attempts.
"I also thought Tyler Rex set a very balanced offense all day and Peter Johnson from Foothill High was very good offensively and he served very tough all day," Pestolesi said.
Irvine Valley is coming off a 2006 season in which it won the Orange Empire Conference title and reached the state tournament. The Lasers had a record of 12-5 overall.
The Lasers officially open the 2007 season at home against Moorpark on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.