The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team earned at least a share of the Pacific Coast Conference title and wrapped up the conference’s top seed for the playoffs with a tough four-game win over Palomar at home Friday night.

"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."

Not much separated the two teams on Friday night, but IVC came out on top 31-29, 30-28, 30-28, 30-22, to improve its record to 15-2 overall and 10-1 in conference with one conference match left to play in the regular season. It was Irvine Valley's ninth straight win.

Palomar, which had won six matches in a row heading into Friday, slipped to 9-7 overall and 7-3 in conference.

The victory was big on a number of levels for IVC. The win kept Irvine Valley a match ahead of Orange Coast in the standings with one contest left. It also guaranteed IVC a trip directly to the State Championships.

The top three teams from both the Pacific Coast Conference and the Western State Conference qualify for the postseason. But the conference champions automatically advance to the state championships semifinals. Even if IVC ends up tied with Orange Coast, the Lasers hold the tiebreaker having beaten OCC both times this season.

The Lasers also exacted some revenge on Palomar. The Comets handed Irvine Valley its only loss in conference, a five-game defeat on Feb. 24.

"We really had to work for it tonight," Yi said. "We couldn’t contain Palomar for stretches. We didn’t have answers. But our guys somehow found a way."

The first three games were all tied late.

Game one was knotted, 29-29, when IVC used a kill by sophomore outside hitter Alex Reis and then a Palomar net violation to take the early lead.

The Comets led, 28-26, in the second game when IVC rallied with two points – on a kill by Reis and an ace by sophomore libero Nick Castello - to tie things up. But a kill by Marc Berry and then an ace by Jared Smith gave the second game to Palomar, 30-28.

The third game was tied an incredible 23 times before IVC pulled it out. Tied, 28-28, IVC freshman outside hitter Caleb Brophy came up with a kill and then Berry hit out for Palomar.

The fourth game looked like it would be another contest to go down to the final few points.

The Lasers trailed, 22-21, but IVC found some rhythm at the right time and went on a 9-0 run to finish the win off. The final eight points were all served by sophomore middle blocker Corey Brophy. He had two aces during the stretch and sophomore middle blocker Taylor Galliano added a block and a kill.

The kill set up game and match point. When Palomar’s Berry hit into the net, Irvine Valley could celebrate.

Irvine Valley was led by Reis, who finished with 23 kills. He also had five blocks.

Galliano added 10 kills and five blocks, Caleb Brophy finished with nine kills, Corey Brophy contributed eight kills, four blocks and nine aces.

Freshman Sam Cornell stepped up with six kills and six blocks, Castello added 15 digs and sophomore setter Garett Dvoracek ended with 48 assists.

Irvine Valley finishes the regular season with a conference match at Grossmont next Wednesday. A win there and the Lasers take the conference title outright. IVC defeated Grossmont in four games earlier this season.