The Irvine Valley College men’s volleyball team made the race for the Pacific Coast Conference title much more interesting Friday night with a thrilling five-game (27-30, 30-22, 30-20, 25-30, 15-11) win over rival Orange Coast at home.
The Lasers handed Orange Coast its second straight loss and basically created a three-way tie for first place in the conference.
Three are at the top of the conference standings with two losses each - Orange Coast and Grossmont with records of 8-2 each and Irvine Valley at 7-2. Grossmont and OCC have each played one more conference match than the Lasers.
Orange Coast was riding a 14-match win streak before dropping contests to Grossmont and Irvine Valley this week. Both were in five games. Orange Coast had defeated Irvine Valley in five games the first time the two teams met on March 14.
This time it went the Lasers’ way.
“Obviously we are excited,” Irvine Valley Coach Tom Pestolesi said. “We had been winning, but hadn’t been playing well for a three or four-week stretch and were starting to splinter a little bit.
“But we had three good days of practice this week and played well in three games tonight. It was a big win.”
The first game was tied, 19-19, when Orange Coast won five of the next seven points to take control. Irvine Valley pulled within 29-27, but then had a serving error to give the game to Orange Coast.
The Lasers bounced back and played some of their best volleyball of the season in the next two games. Down, 10-8, in the second game, Irvine Valley went on a 15-5 run to take a 23-15 advantage. Outside hitter Peter Johnson had a kill to give IVC game point and the Lasers took the game on a Coast serving error.
The Lasers raced out to an 8-3 lead in game three and never looked back. They had three leads of 10 points in the game and closed the game out, 30-20, on a kill by outside hitter Marcus Fernandez.
Orange Coast shifted the momentum back its way in the fourth game. The Pirates never trailed in the game and led by as many as seven points in the frame. Kevin Welch’s kill sent the match to a fifth and deciding game.
Irvine Valley started strong in the final game. Setter Tyler Rex set up middle blocker Bryan Simmons for kills on the opening two points. But Orange Coast fought back and tied the score, 4-4, on a kill by Neil Bell. IVC led, 6-5, and then scored two straight points – one on a kill by Fernandez and another on a OCC net violation – to go up, 8-5.
IVC stretched it to a four-point advantage at 11-7 on a block by Simmons. A big stuff block a few points later by Fernandez gave IVC game and match point at 14-9. Orange Coast hung in with a kill by Matt Knutson and an IVC passing error. But a kill by Laser outside hitter Peter Johnson closed things out.
Johnson finished with his second highest kill total this year - 24. And IVC out-blocked Orange Coast, 24-11.
Irvine Valley plays again next Wednesday, hosting San Diego City at 6 p.m.