Irvine Valley's athlete of the week for Nov. 26 is women's volleyball player Alaina Gendale.
The freshman outside hitter came through in a big way for the Lasers in the second round of the So. Cal. Regional Playoffs on Saturday at home against Ventura.
She finished with 11 kills and seven digs in helping IVC sweep Ventura, 25-16, 25-18, 26-24, and advance to the CCCAA State Championships.
Gendale hit .400 in the match (11-3-20) and also had an ace in recording 12.0 points for IVC.
She had another standout match for Irvine Valley in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday at home against Pasadena City.
Gendale ended with 10 kills, hit .368 and had 10 digs as Irvine Valley rallied to sweep the Lancers, 27-25, 25-22, 25-18.
The two wins improved top-seeded in the South and top-ranked in the state Irvine Valley's record to 20-1 overall. And the two sweeps brought Irvine Valley's total three-set wins on the year to 17.
On the year, Gendale is averaging 1.36 kills and 2.48 digs per set. Her 91 total kills ranks sixth on the squad and her 166 total digs is third best for the Lasers.
She's had eight matches with at least 10 digs on the season. Gendale had a season high 15 digs in Irvine Valley's sweep at Fullerton on Oct. 24.
She has four matches with at least 10 kills, including recording 10 and 11, respectively, in the last two contests.
Gendale, who starred at Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga before arriving at IVC, recorded 11 kills in a straight-set win at Golden West on Sept. 19 and then had the 11 kills on Saturday against Ventura.
Irvine Valley opens the CCCAA State Championships on Thursday, facing West Valley, the fourth-seeded team from No. Cal. at 10 a.m. at Solano College in Fairfield.