Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team capped its second straight undefeated regular season with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 Orange Empire Conference win over Fullerton on Sophomore Night on Friday at Irvine Valley.
The Lasers, ranked second in the state and first in Southern California, improved their record to 21-0 overall and 14-0 in conference and celebrated the final home regular season match of sophomores Annie Mitchem, Marisa Doran, Hailey Jones, Kobi Pekich, Shaelyn Perez, Carleigh Petersen and Samantha Holdredge.
"What those ladies have accomplished the last two years with this program is amazing," IVC coach Tom Pestolesi said.
IVC has won two Orange Empire Conference titles, finished third in the state in 2013 and now has a record of 45-2 over the last two seasons.
IVC is also 28-0 in conference the last two years and has won 32-straight conference matches dating back to 2012.
"That is a nice thing to have going," Pestolesi said of the conference streak.
The latest win wasn't easy for the Lasers. They had to battle, especially in the second and third sets to earn the victory over Fullerton, which was ranked sixth in the state and fourth in Southern California.
After winning the first set, 25-17, IVC was in a tussle in the second set.
The set was tied, 13-13, before the Lasers took charge. But even ahead, 24-19, and looking to close out the set, Fullerton came back with three straight points to pull within 24-22.
A kill by Pekich off an assist from Doran gave Irvine Valley a two-set lead.
But Irvine Valley fell behind early in the third set. Fullerton scored five straight points, capped by an ace by Briana Cervantes and a block by Kali LaBrie to take a 11-6 advantage.
Fullerton's lead grew to 15-9 after a kill by Grace Lopez. And the Hornets were up, 18-11, on an ace by Alex Winfield.
Fullerton got closer to taking the set after a block by Lopez and Kelsey Smith made it 20-14 and an IVC hitting error pushed the Hornet lead to 22-16.
But Irvine Valley closed the match with a flurry.
A Fullerton serving error, back-to-back kills by Pekich and Mitchem, an ace by freshman defensive specialist Emily Reinking and a Hornet hitting error pulled IVC within 22-21.
Fullerton got a kill by Caroline Corp to go up, 23-21.
But it was the last point Fullerton scored.
Two straight kills by Mitchem on slide plays got Irvine Valley even at 23-23. And two straight kills by Doran ended the match.
Irvine Valley out-scored Fullerton, 9-1, to finish the third and final set.
"Fullerton is a very good team, but it is about us," Pestolesi said. "If we do what we are capable of doing, things can go pretty well."
The sweep meant that Irvine Valley didn't drop a set at home during the regular season, sweeping its 10 opponents inside Hart Gymnasium.
Irvine Valley was led by Mitchem, who finished with 14 kills, five digs and five blocks. She hit .600 on the night.
Doran ended with 13 kills and six digs, Jones had 37 assists and 10 digs, Pekich contributed seven kills and 13 dig and freshman Hannah Matt had seven kills and hit .636.
Freshman libero Kayla Scheevel added 13 digs and Reinking chipped in seven digs for the Lasers.
Fullerton, which saw its record slip to 13-6 overall and 8-6 in conference, was paced by Lopez with eight kills and Corp with seven kills.
Irvine Valley now awaits the announcement of the Southern California Regional playoffs bracket on Sunday.
