Women's volleyball team holds on to No. 2 spot in state

Courtesy of On My Game Photography
Courtesy of On My Game Photography

Irvine Valley's volleyball team held on to the No. 2 spot in the latest California Community College Women's Volleyball Coaches Association State Top 25 Poll.

The Lasers, who have a record of 9-0, are also ranked No. 1 in Southern California in the poll.

Cabrillo remained No. 1 in the poll with a record of 11-0.

The rest of the top 10 included Fresno City, Bakersfield, El Camino, Grossmont, San Joaquin Delta, Saddleback, Sierra and Pierce.

Saddleback (No. 8), Orange Coast (No. 19) and Cypress (No. 21) joined Irvine Valley from the OEC in the top 25.

IVC won two matches last week, sweeping Riverside on the road on Wednesday before rallying to beat Saddleback in five sets on Friday night at home.

Irvine Valley came away with a 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10 win over a tough Saddleback squad that was ranked No. 14 in the state last week.

It was the first time IVC had been pushed to five sets this season. The Lasers had swept seven of their eight opponents heading into last Friday's contest.

"Our kids gutted it out," Irvine Valley coach Tom Pestolesi said after Friday's match. "They really stepped up on some big points when they needed to."

Irvine Valley was paced by sophomore outside hitter Taira Ka'awaloa, who finished with a match-high 26 kills to go along with a team-high 22 digs in the five-set win.

Ka'awaloa, who hit .422 on the night, also had three blocks for the Lasers.

Sophomore outside hitter Olivia Aguilar ended with 20 kills and nine digs, sophomore libero Gabi Lau had 19 digs and sophomore setter Megan Ramseyer contributed four kills, 11 digs and 52 assists.

Ramseyer is second in the state in assists at 11.07 per set, while Aguilar ranks sixth in the state in kills per set at 4.30 and Ka'awaloa is seventh at 4.23.

Aguilar is also 12th in the state in hitting percentage at .358.

Irvine Valley will go for its 10th win of the season on Wednesday night in a conference match at Golden West at 6 p.m.

IVC is home again on  Friday, hosting Fullerton at 6 p.m.