Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team was ranked eighth in the first 2018 California Community College Sports Information Association State Top 20 Poll.
The Lasers, who are ranked third in Southern California in the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll, have won eight straight games and lead the Orange Empire Conference standings.
IVC has a record of 17-3 overall and is 6-0 in conference.
Sierra, which is the last of the unbeaten teams in the state with a perfect 21-0 record, was ranked first in the poll. The Wolverines are beating their opponents by an average of 26 or more points per game. The closest anyone has played them all season is back on Nov. 19 when No. 7 rated Fresno City lost by 10, 105-95.
Sierra received 10 out of 15 first-place votes. Mt. San Jacinto (21-1) is at No. 2 and sporting a 19-game win streak. The Eagles avenged its only loss to fellow PCAC North Division foe Palomar (19-1) by ending the No. 3 Comets 18-game win streak to start the season in an 85-69 win last week.
Central Valley Conference members College of the Sequoias (20-2) and Merced (19-3) are No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Merced defeated COS, 66-63, on Jan. 10 and lead the CVC by a game over the Lady Giants. City College of San Francisco (18-3) chimes in at No. 6 and currently leads the Coast Conference North Division.
After Fresno (18-4) at No. 7, a South team reappears at No. 8 in Irvine Valley.
Two-time defending state champ Mt. San Antonio (17-5) is No. 9, but that could change as No. 10 East Los Angeles (14-6) upended the Mounties in a South Coast Conference North buzzer-beater, 69-68 on Friday night. A perennial conference champion, Mt. SAC is in a rare situation where it finds itself in third place in the SCC North behind ELAC and No. 12 LA Trade Tech (15-5), both off to 2-0 divisional starts.
Ventura (16-6) is ahead of LATT at No. 11 and once again tops the Western State North. The current top 20 is an even split between the South and North regions with 10 teams from each.
Irvine Valley, which defeated Orange Coast, 100-49, last Friday night plays again this Wednesday night when it hosts Riverside at 7 p.m. in a conference matchup.
Sophomore forward Kasey Smit leads the way for IVC, averaging 16.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.
CCCSIA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATE POLL (Jan. 22)
Rk. Team
1. Sierra (10)
2. Mt. San Jacinto (3)
3. Palomar (2)
4. College of the Sequoias
5. Merced
6. City College of San Francisco
7. Fresno City
8. Irvine Valley
9. Mt. San Antonio
10. East Los Angeles
11. Ventura
12. L.A. Trade-Tech
13. Diablo Valley
14. College of the Siskiyous
15. El Camino
16. Chabot
17. Long Beach City
18. Feather River
19. Cabrillo
20. Moorpark
Others receiving votes:
San Joaquin Delta (29), Cypress (9), L.A. Valley (6), MiraCosta (2), Pasadena City (1)