Irvine Valley's men's tennis team stayed in first place in the Orange Empire Conference with a convincing 7-2 win over Orange Coast on Tuesday at home.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 1 in Southern California and the defending state champion, improved its record to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in conference.
Orange Coast dropped to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in conference.
Irvine Valley now has a two-match lead over Orange Coast, Saddleback and Riverside for first place.
The Lasers won five of six singles matches and two of three doubles contests against Orange Coast.
Sophomores Flavien Raveau (No. 1), Sam Cohen (No. 2) and Bruno Figlia (No. 6) along with freshmen Javier Callejo (No. 3) and Octave Bellet (No. 5) each won singles matches in straight sets.
Bellet won, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles and Figlia won, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 6 singles.
Orange Coast picked up a win at No. 4 singles when Sergio Palacio defeated IVC freshman Juan Navarro, 3-6, 7-5, 11-9.
In doubles, Irvine Valley got wins from the teams of Figlia and Navarro at the No. 2 spot and freshman Gavin Lynch and sophomore Kevin Pham at the No. 3 position. Lynch and Pham breezed, 8-0.
Irvine Valley comes right back on Wednesday for an early morning non-conference match. The Lasers will host Case Western from Cleveland, Ohio at 8:30 a.m. Case Western is ranked No. 6 nationally at the NCAA Division 3 level.
Irvine Valley 7, Orange Coast 2
Singles
1) Flavien Raveau (IVC) def. Tam Duong (OCC), 6-3, 6-1
2) Sam Cohen (IVC) def. Elmer Van Butselaar (OCC), 6-2, 6-3
3) Javier Callejo (IVC) def. Kevin Springer (OCC), 6-3, 6-1
4) Sergio Palacio (OCC) def. Juan Navarro (IVC), 3-6, 7-5, 11-9
5) Octave Bellet (IVC) def. Marco Tam (OCC), 6-0, 6-1
6) Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. Phillip Vu (OCC), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1) Van Butselaar/Springer (OCC) def. Scott Paz/Raveau (IVC), 8-6
2) Figlia/Navarro (IVC) def. Duong/Palacio (OCC), 8-5
3) Gavin Lynch/Kevin Pham (IVC) def. Tam/Vu (OCC), 8-0
