The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team simply refused to lose Wednesday night on the road.

The Lasers pulled out a 22-30, 29-31, 30-22, 36-34, 15-13 win over host Orange Coast in a key Pacific Coast Conference contest.

The two-time defending state champion Lasers (5-3 overall, 1-1 in Pacific Coast Conference) overcame a dislocated finger by Corey Brophy, a chipped tooth from Brandon Directo and a two-game deficit to pull out the win.

For the Pirates (5-3, 1-1), it was a knee-buckling loss, considering the score after the second game.

Jake Melone led OCC with 25 kills, while Alex Reis added 23. Setter Doug Astor dished out a season-high 68 assists.

For IVC, Directo had 23 kills and eight digs. Aaron Gerardi added 20 kills with only two hitting errors. Brophy and Taylor Galliano each finished with 11 kills. Brophy also had six blocks. And setter James Alexander ended with a season-high 50 assists.

The Pirates came out on fire, jumping out to a 23-15 lead in the opening game. IVC got as close as 23-19 before Coast regrouped and with the help of three Melone kills, finished off the game with a 7-3 run.

The second game went back and forth as an early 10-6 OCC lead turned into a 25-21 IVC advantage. A pair of Melone kills and a pair of Reis kills, combined with three IVC errors helped give Coast a 29-28 lead.

Irvine Valley fought off one game point with a Directo kill, but a pair of Laser errors down the stretch enabled the Pirates to take a two-game lead with a 31-29 win.

But back came the Lasers, who jumped out quickly on the Pirates in the third game and never looked back. Directo and Gerardi accounted for 10 kills in that game, keeping the two-time defending state champions in the match. 

The fourth game looked to be a runaway for the Pirates as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead, forcing IVC into an early timeout. But the Lasers showed their poise and grit by running off 13 of the next 17 points to take a 13-10 lead.

Five straight OCC points gave the lead back to Coast, 15-13.

Coast had three match points in the fourth game, but watched IVC fight them all off. A key block by Brophy turned the tide to the Lasers, 32-31, and OCC had to fight off three game points before a net violation by Coast and a kill by Galliano ended it, 36-34, and tied the match at two games apiece.

With the match heading into its second hour of action, IVC took the early upper hand in the final game, jumping out to a 6-3 lead.

OCC trailed, 8-6, at the crossover before using a pair of Mike Stewart kills in the middle to spark a 6-4 run, tying the game at 12.

After an IVC kill attempt was dug, OCC had an opportunity to take the lead, but Galliano came up big for the Lasers with a block, giving Irvine Valley a 13-12 advantage.

A net violation by Orange Coast made it 14-12 and after OCC fought off one match point with a kill, Directo ended the match with a kill.

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