Beach volleyball team starts OEC play with two victories

Beach volleyball team starts OEC play with two victories

After dropping two matcjes last Wednesday at home, the Irvine Valley women's beach volleyball team bounced back with two big victories on Friday.

IVC opened Orange Empire Conference play with a tight 3-2 win over rival Orange Coast in its first match of the day. The Lasers then won in three sets on two of the courts to defeat Cypress, 4-1.

The wins improved Irvine Valley's record to 3-3 overall.

Against Orange Coast, IVC earned victories from its second, third and fourth pairs.

The No. 2 duo of freshman Audrey Fowler and sophomore Natalia Brandlin won, 21-9, 21-18, the No. 3 pair of freshman Avery Bennett and sophomore Mia Bertolone came out on top, 21-8, 24-22, and the No. 4 team of freshman Ava Guenther and sophomore Felicia Bonus won, 21-10, 22-20.

In Irvine Valley's victory over Cypress, key three-set wins were scored by sophomores Tessa Marocco and Kenzie Dews on the first court and freshmen Alya Mersin and Nikki Korneff.

Marocco and Dews scored a 21-11, 17-21, 17-15 win and Mersin and Korneff came out on top, 21-12, 11-21, 15-11.

Irvine Valley also picked up victories from Fowler and Brandlin on the second court (21-14, 21-16) and Bennett and Bertolone on the fourth court (21-16, 21-15).

The Lasers play again next Wednesday at home, hosting Mt. San Antonio in a nonconference match.