Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team won its second match in a row and picked up a solid win over a squad that it was tied with in the Orange Empire Conference standings.
The Lasers, ranked No. 16 in the state, swept district rival and 25th-ranked Saddleback, 25-14, 29-27, 25-11 Wednesday night at home.
Irvine Valley and Saddleback were tied for third in the OEC standings at 4-2 heading into the contest.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 9-3 overall and 5-2 in conference. IVC's win coupled with No. 20 Orange Coast falling in four sets to No. 5 Cypress moved the Lasers into a tie for second now with OCC.
Saddleback, which had won three matches in a row, slipped to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in conference.
The Bobcats fell into a three-way tie for fourth place with Golden West and Fullerton.
The first set was basically over from the start on Wednesday.
Freshman opposite Jayli Nealy opened with a kill and the Lasers went on to win nine of the first 10 points.
Nealy also had two block assists and sophomore libero Alexandra Pestolis finished the run with three straight aces.
Irvine Valley kept pouring it on, going on an 8-2 run capped by a combo block by freshman middle blocker Kendall Fraser and freshman setter Maddie Harkey to make it 17-14.
IVC got to set point at 24-11 on a kill by freshman outside hitter Emily Guenter and four points later Guenter came through with another kill to end the set.
The second set was much different.
It was back and forth throughout. Neither team led by more than three points and thaet was at 12-9 for the Lasers and 20-17 for Saddleback.
The set was then tied at 21 and 22 before Saddleback scored two points in a row on a kill by Sydney Brown and a block by Kenzie Huston.
But Irvine Valley won two in a row on a kill by Guenter and a hitting error by the Bobcats to make it 24 apiece.
Saddleback had its third set point at 25-24, but served the ball into the net.
Irvine Valley then owned set points at 26-25 and 27-26, but had its own hitting error and then saw Saddleback block Nealy.
But Nealy wouldn't be denied. Harkey, IVC's setter, fed her on the next two points and Nealy finished each time to give the Lasers a 29-27 win.
Like the first set, Irvine Valley raced out to a big lead in the third and never looked back.
Ahead, 5-3, Irvine Valley went on a 4-0 run capped by a kill by Sanchez to go up by six points.
IVC kept the pressure on, later taking a 19-8 lead on a ace by freshman defensive specialist Lexie Bruce.
And the Lasers finished the set winning six of the final seven points. A block by freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Karsten ended the match.
Irvine Valley received contributions from a number of players.
Nealy ended with 11 kills and four blocks, Sanchez had 10 kills and 10 digs, Fraser and Guenter each contributed six kills with Guenter adding 12 digs and two aces.
Pestolis finished with 12 digs and four aces, Karsten had three kills and seven blocks and Harkey ran the offense with 26 assists and chipped in six digs.
The Lasers play again at home on Friday, hosting Fullerton at 6 p.m. Fans are welcome, but masks are required.
