Irvine Valley's athlete of the week for Mar. 16 is freshman women's tennis player Nicole Harper.
Harper continued to dominate from her No. 4 singles position, earning the deciding win in the Lasers taking down Riverside, 6-3, in a battle for first in conference last Thursday at home.
She is undefeated in singles on the season.
The win was the biggest of the year so far for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley and Riverside were two of five undefeated teams in the state going into last Thursday's showdown.
And the two were at the top of the Orange Empire Conference standings.
Irvine Valley moved to the top of the table after winning two of three sets in doubles and then taking four of six sets in singles.
The Lasers improved their record to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play, while Riverside slipped to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the OEC.
Harper and fellow freshman Soleil Zsibrita won, 8-5, over Hannah Stevenson and Monica Madrid for one of the two doubles victories.
In singles, Harper closed out the win for the Lasers with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) win over Madrid on the fourth court.