Special 2008 for IVC athletics
Dec 27, 2008
It was a special year for Irvine Valley College's athletic teams.
Teams, athletes and coaches won titles, set records and achieved milestones.
The most recent highlight was the men's volleyball team receiving its state championship rings from the spring 2008 season. It was the second straight state title for the Lasers, who finished with a record of 18-2 in 2008. Sophomore outside hitter Peter Johnson was named the most valuable player of the Orange Empire Conference and the state tournament.
Irvine Valley finished 20th in the state in Pepsi Cup standings for the 2007-08 school year.
It was the highest finish ever by IVC and the highest finish ever state-wide by a non-football school.
The Lasers also had 17 student-athletes named all-Orange Empire Conference.
The women’s volleyball team won its second straight Orange Empire Conference title this fall and advanced to the state tournament.
Sophomore outside hitter Mar Guadagnini was named the most valuable player in the conference and
six players were named all-conference.
The Irvine Valley women's golf team won a conference title. Ben Burnett was named conference coach of the year and freshman Felicia Titus was named the conference's most valuable player. Titus also recently signed a Division I scholarship with Cal State Fullerton.
In all, five IVC golfers were named all-conference.
Men's soccer coach Martin McGrogan won his 250th career match at IVC this fall, which was the second best in the nation all-time among community college coaches.
The Laser men's soccer team also had four players named all-conference with the IVC women's soccer team having two players selected all-conference.
The baseball team had its best ever season in early 2008. The team finished with a record of 32-17, hosted its first ever playoff games and made the Super Regionals. Several players signed four-year scholarships.
The men's basketball team finished up its best ever season early in 2008, being ranked as high as second in the state and winning 27 games.
This fall, three men's basketball players have already signed national letters of intent to Division I schools for the fall of 2009. They are sophomore guard Jeff Ledbetter (Idaho), center Bryce Webster (Cal State Fullerton) and sophomore forward Jon Reed (Cal State Fullerton).
Also, Irvine Valley has and will receive millions of national television impressions (Sept. 08-May 09) on Fox Sports Laker telecasts and Karch’s Khronicles volleyball. Lakers' television analyst Stu Lantz and volleyball legend Karch Kiraly filmed clips of basketball and volleyball instruction, respectively in the IVC gymnasium for broadcast on Fox Sports Net.