Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team battled Division III UC Santa Cruz on Saturday with a big crowd and a lot of energy inside Hart Gymnasium.
And the Lasers came out with a dramatic, five-set win.
Irvine Valley won, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-12, to improve its record to 7-2 overall.
It was a back and forth affair with IVC controlling the first and third sets and Santa Cruz running the second and fourth sets.
But Irvine Valley came through in the fifth and final set.
And the fifth close was close throughout.
The Lasers took a 6-4 lead in the fifth set on a kill by freshman outside hitter JT Demure and then went up, 11-8, on a setter dump by freshman Donovan Gudino.
It was 13-9 for the Lasers after a back row attack was called on the Banana Slugs.
UC Santa Cruz then went on a three-point run and moved to within 13-12, but a combo block by Demure and freshman outside hitter Josh Beymer moved the Lasers to match point.
A Banana Slug hitting error ended the match.
Freshman opposite Caden Perkins was the star for the Lasers with 14 kills, three aces, four digs and and seven blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Karl Stenlund was another standout with 14 kills and hit .345.
Demure added eight kills and five digs.
Gudino ran the offfense with 46 assists and freshman libero Adam Schulte had a team-best 12 assists.
Irvine Valley plays again on Wednesday against San Diego Mesa at 4 p.m.
Fans are welcome with social distancing and masks are required.
