Irvine Valley's men's tennis team played its best when it counted the most.
The Lasers defeated Riverside, 7-2, in a key Orange Empire Conference match on Tuesday at home.
The match was a lot closer than the score showed.
Irvine Valley won very close contests on the day to earn the win and hand Riverside its first loss of the year.
IVC improved its record to 3-0 in conference, while Riverside fell to 4-1.
The match took close to three and a half hours to complete.
The Lasers captured all three doubles contests. The victory at the No. 3 spot was the most important.
Freshmen Hugo Redelinger and Cole Martin pulled out a 9-7 win to give IVC a 3-0 lead in matches.
Freshmen Julio Vargas and Luis Moros (8-0) and freshman Victor Chaix and Trevor Quenan (8-3) had easier times in the first two doubles matches.
Riverside picked up a win at No. 6 singles, but Vargas, IVC's top player, won, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 1 singles to put the Lasers in front, 4-1.
The Tigers earned another point at the fifth position to make the score 4-2.
It came down to the final three courts and all three matches went to three sets.
Moros won the decider for the Lasers, out-lasting Aurelien Arlot, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 at the No. 2 position.
Chaix followed with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, win at No. 3 singles and Redelinger finished with a 6-4, 5-7, (10-8) win in the final match of the day.
The two teams are slated to play again on Thursday at Riverside at 2 p.m.
