Irvine Valley's men's tennis team won the Orange Empire Conference title outright with a 8-1 win over Orange Coast on the road Tuesday.
It is Irvine Valley's third conference title in a row.
The Lasers, who are the defending state champion and ranked No. 1 in Southern California, improved their record to 16-2 overall and 9-0 in conference.
The win was their 11th victory in a row.
Orange Coast, which sits in second place in the conference standings, saw its record slip to 15-4 overall and 7-3 in conference. The match was the final one in the regular season for the Pirates.
IVC closes out the regular season on Thursday, hosting rival Saddleback at 2 p.m.
Irvine Valley won five of six singles matches and all three doubles matches on Tuesday at OCC.
Many of them were close.
Irvine Valley sophomores Sam Cohen (No. 1) and Scott Paz (No. 5) and freshman mark Hardebeck (No. 6) each won in straight sets in singles. Paz didn't drop a game and Hardebeck only lost two games.
But freshman Octave Bellet out-lasted Orange Coast's Elmer Van Butselaar, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4, at No. 2 singles and sophomore Bruno Figlia rallied to beat Sergio Palacio, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot.
IVC freshman Juan Navarro fell to Kevin Springer, 6-2, 3-6, 10-7, at No. 4 singles.
In doubles, IVC's team of Cohen and freshman Javier Callejo defeated Springer and Van Butselaar, 9-7, at the top position.
The Irvine Valley team of Paz and Figlia won, 8-4, on the second court and the duo of sophomore Kevin Pham and freshman Gavin Lynch came out on top, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles.
Irvine Valley 8, Orange Coast 1
Singles
1) Sam Cohen (IVC) def. Tam Duong (OCC), 6-3, 6-4
2) Octave Bellet (IVC) def. Elmer Van Butselaar (OCC), 6-4,4-6,10-4
3) Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. Sergio Palacio (OCC), 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
4) Kevin Springer (OCC) def. Juan Navarro, 6-2, 3-6, 10-7
5) Scott Paz (IVC) def. Marco Tam (OCC), 6-0, 6-0
6) Mark Hardebeck (IVC) def. Phillip Vu (OCC), 6-0,6-2
Doubles
1) Cohen/Javier Callejo (IVC) def. Springer/Van Butselaar (OCC), 9-7
2) Paz/Figlia (IVC) def. Duong/Palacio (OCC), 8-4
3) Gavin Lynch/Kevin Pham (IVC) def. Tam/Alex Shakas (OCC), 8-1
