The Irvine Valley men’s volleyball team won’t get a chance to defend its CCCAA Championship.

Irvine Valley, winner of the last two state titles, was knocked off by Santa Monica in a Southern California Regional Playoff Final Tuesday night at IVC.

Santa Monica, which finished third in the Western State Conference, came out on top, 30-27, 30-24, 28-30, 33-31.

The Corsairs, who improved their record to 14-5 overall, move on to the state tournament on the same floor it won on Tuesday night. Santa Monica will face a familiar foe in one semifinal in the state event on Thursday at Irvine Valley. It meets Western State Conference champion Long Beach City at 5:30 p.m.

Irvine Valley, which finished second in the Pacific Coast Conference, ends its season with a record of 13-6 overall.

Irvine Valley had its chances. The Lasers led, 26-24, in the first game, but Santa Monica scored five points in a row to go up, 29-26. Two points later the Corsairs closed out the game on a kill by Taylor Palm.

The second game was also close throughout, but Santa Monica was in control for most of it. The Corsairs took a 9-8 lead on an ace by Palm and led the rest of the way. Ahead, 26-24, Santa Monica scored the final four points of the second game.

A kill by Quinn Lukens set up game point and a kill by Jeffrey Sagnin ended it.

The Lasers bounced back in game three. Tied at 17-17, IVC went on a 6-1 run capped by a block by Taylor Galliano and a hitting error by Santa Monica to go ahead, 23-18.

Santa Monica later pulled to within 29-28 on a kill by Todd Travis, but Irvine Valley finished off the game on the next point on a kill by Aaron Gerardi.

The fourth game could have gone either way, but it was Santa Monica that pulled it out in the end.

The game was tied 22 times. Irvine Valley had one game point and Santa Monica had two game points before ending things on its third try.

A kill by setter Matt Atkins gave the Corsairs a 31-31 lead. And a hitting error by IVC gave Santa Monica the win.

RJ Storm-Larsen led Santa Monica's effort, finishing with a match-high 20 kills. He added 12 digs. But the Corsairs got a balanced offensive attack. Travis had 15 kills, Palm added 13 kills, Lukens finished with 11 kills and Sagnin contributed nine kills.
Tom Marrone finished with nine digs and Atkins had 61 set assists.

For Irvine Valley, Brandon Directo and Gerardi led the way with 15 kills each. Billy Woodall had nine kills and five blocks and Galliano added eight kills and our blocks.
Nick Castello paced the squad with 12 digs and Curt Mahle had 10 digs.