Irvine Valley sophomore women's volleyball player Annie Mitchem was named the California Community College Athletics Association athlete of the month for September for her effort in getting the Lasers off to such a great start to the 2014 season.
Heading into this week'sd action, Irvine Valley had a record of 12-0 overall and 5-0 in the Orange Empire Conference. IVC is also ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 1 in Southern California.
Mitchem, who is the reigning American Volleyball Coaches Association 2-year national player of the year, leads the state in hitting percentage and is among the leaders in kills.
Through the end of September, IVC had a record of 7-0 and that included knocking off two nationally-ranked NAIA schools. IVC swept six of its first seven matches.
The 6-2 Mitchem amassed 100 kills in the seven matches through September, which averaged out to 14.2 kills per match and 4.35 kills per set.
Even more impressive was Mitchem's hitting percentage of .576 through those first seven matches, which was by far tops in the state.
She recorded double digit kills in six of the seven matches through September with highs of 19 twice in sweeps of Canyons and San Diego City. She hit .826 with 19 kills in 23 attempts with no errors against San Diego City.
Mitchem, who is playing all rotations this season as a middle blocker, also averaged 3.0 digs and 1.13 blocks per set through September for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley has a big week this week, playing conference matches at Orange Coast tonight (Wednesday) and at Fullerton on Friday.