Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team got a scare, but came through with a key four-set Orange Empire Conference win over Golden West on Wednesday night at home.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 3 in the state, won, 25-10, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23 over the No. 10 Rustlers.
IVC captured the first set with ease and got out to a 16-12 lead in the second set.
But Golden West battled back to take the second.
The Lasers broke away in the middle of the third set, going up, 16-10, on a kill by freshman outside hitter Sean Carroll.
Golden West didn't get closer than five points the rest of the way.
A block by freshman middle blocker Jonah Montes gave IVC a 18-12 lead.
A kill by sophomore outside hitter Brennan To put Irvine Valley up, 23-14, and a kill by freshman outside hitter Trent Williams gave IVC set point at 24-15.
Two points later, Williams ended the set with a kill.
Irvine Valley used the momentum and raced out to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set only to see Golden West win six points in a row and tie it.
It was back and forth from there. Golden West led, 22-21, when IVC made its final charge.
A kill by sophomore outside hitter Patrick Furlong tied it at 22-22.
And then Golden West not being able to get the ball over on three after a big kill by Williams put IVC ahead, 23-22.
Golden West tied it at 23-23 on a Laser hitting error.
But Irvine Valley won the final two points to take the match.
Furlong had a kill in the middle off of a quick pass from sophomore setter Austin McBain and then some Golden West miscommunication on a kill attempt where the ball ultimately fell short of the net ended the match.
"We played a little sloppy, but it was a good win for us," IVC coach Tom Pestolesi said. "A lot of different guys contributed."
Irvine Valley improved its record to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in conference, while Golden West slipped to 5-9 overall and 0-4 in conference.
The Lasers got solid contributions across the board.
Williams led the way with 14 kills and three blocks, Furlong had 13 kills and five blocks, To had nine kills and 10 digs and Carroll finished with eight kills, three blocks and eight digs.
Freshman libero added 18 digs and McBain ran the offense with 46 assists and contributed seven digs.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday in a big conference match at No. 2 Orange Coast at 6 p.m.
