Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team advanced to its first State Championships since 2009 with a four-set win over Santa Barbara City Tuesday night at home.
Top-seeded Irvine Valley defeated No. 4 Santa Barbara City, 25-15, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, in a SoCal Regional Final.
"I am so happy for the kids," Irvine Valley coach Tom Pestolesi said. "They have done such a good job all year. I always felt we could be here, but you never know until the season moves along. The kids just have really bought in."
Irvine Valley, ranked second in the state in the final regular season poll, will be one of two teams from Southern California along with two teams from Northern California in the State Championships this Saturday and Sunday at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.
Irvine Valley stayed undefeated, improving its record to 23-0 with the victory over Santa Barbara City, which saw its season end with a record of 19-8.
"We knew it was going to be a tough match," said IVC sophomore libero and team captain Becky Moodie of facing Santa Barbara City. IVC won a thrilling five-set match at Santa Barbara very early in the season. "We came out really strong tonight. We were very focused and fired up to start. They played better in the second set, but we picked it up in the third and fourth sets and got the win."
The first set was close until Irvine Valley broke away with a 7-1 run to take a 16-8 lead. A kill by sophomore middle blocker Haley Whyte gave the Lasers the eight-point cushion.
Another kill by Whyte, an ace by Moodie and a kill by sophomore opposite Alexis Radecki made it 19-11.
Up, 21-14, Irvine Valley scored four of the final five points of the set. A kill by freshman middle blocker Annie Mitchem created set point and a hitting error by Santa Barbara City ended the set.
Santa Barbara City bounced right back in the second set. The set was tight throughout. There were nine ties and several lead changes.
Santa Barbara City took its largest lead at 18-14 on a kill by Olenka Tuleja. IVC ran off six points in a row to take a 20-18 advantage.
But Santa Barbara City tied up the set at 20-20 on back-to-back kills by Jenna Anderson.
The set was tied at 21, 22 and 23. A kill by Irvine Valley freshman outside hitter Kobi Pekich tied things at 23-23.
But two straight hitting errors by the Lasers allowed Santa Barbara City to tie the sets at one apiece.
The third set was also close most of the way. IVC used four points in a row to create some distance and take a 21-14 advantage. Mitchem was big with a kill and two blocks during the run.
Santa Barbara City got within 22-18, but a kill by Mitchem and then ace by Mitchem made it 24-18.
Santa Barbara City scored two points in a row on a kill by Anderson and a block by Kristy Kearney and Anderson to stay alive in the set.
A kill by Whyte sealed the set for Irvine Valley and a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was tied, 4-4, but it was all Irvine Valley after that. The Lasers scored six straight points, capped by a kill by Whyte, to go up, 10-4.
The Lasers led by as many as nine points in the set.
A kill by Whyte set up match point at 24-16 and the contest ended soon after on an illegal substitution by Santa Barbara City.
"We were tied in sets, but we pushed through it," Whyte said. "We pushed through the lows and got back to the highs. It was definitely a great win to have."
Mitchem, who was the Orange Empire Conference most valuable player this season, led Irvine Valley with 20 kills and eight blocks. She hit .444 on the night.
Whyte came up with her best match of the season, finishing with 14 kills and four blocks. She hit an impressive .619.
"It was a fun game to play in because we had a big crowd and all of our family and friends here," Whyte said. "To get 14 kills in our last match at home is an amazing feeling."
Freshman outside hitter Marisa Doran added nine kills and seven digs, Radecki had eight kills, Moodie chipped in with 20 digs and freshman setter Hailey Jones finished with 40 assists and seven digs for the Lasers. IVC also got solid contributions with five kills and seven digs from Pekich and seven digs from sophomore defensive specialist Emily Daily.
"We worked really hard to get here," Moodie said. "We appreciate every single player on this team. It was a total team victory. We won this together and we are really excited to be making history."
Santa Barbara City was paced by Jasmine Ward with 19 kills, Anderson with 11 kills and four blocks and Eryn Young with 19 digs.
Irvine Valley now heads back to the State Championships. The last time the Lasers were in the event in 2009, they just missed out on the finals and ended up finishing in third place. IVC's best-ever finish was in 2003 as the runner-up in the state event, which was held at Irvine Valley.
"We are really confident right now," Moodie said. "I think we can take the whole thing if we take care of our side of the court like our coach (Pestolesi) always tells us."
Whyte, another team captain and two-year starter for the Lasers, agreed.
"At the beginning of the season there was a lot of talk about the season we could have, but now it is all coming true," she said. "We are right there. And every single time we play and every single time we win we are getting hungrier for that state title.
"We all have the same focus right now to win state. If we keep doing what all of the coaches ask us to do then we can take it all."