Irvine Valley's men's tennis team got off to a strong start in its quest for another California Community College Athletic Association State Championship.
IVC, which is the defending state champ, defeated San Diego Mesa, 5-0, in the opening round of the Southern California Team Dual Regional Playoffs on Tuesday at Irvine Valley.
The Lasers, who are the No. 1 seed in the regional, improved their record to 18-2 overall. It was the team's 13th win in a row.
San Diego Mesa, the eighth seed, had its team season end with a record of 12-6 overall. Mesa won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference this year.
Irvine Valley won all three doubles matches to start.
The Lasers got a 8-0 win from the team of sophomores Bruno Figlia and Scott Paz at the No. 2 position. Then the top IVC team of sophomore Sam Cohen and freshman Javier Callejo, won 8-1.
On the third court, the Irvine Valley team of freshman Gavin Lynch and sophomore Kevin Pham came through with an 8-5 victory.
In singles, IVC won two matches to end the contest.
Sophomore Tony Selim won, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 6 singles over Mesa's Joel Sorman and then freshman Juan Navarro clinched the overall win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Shane Fisher.
All four of Irvine Valley's other singles players had captured first sets in their matches. Those matches were halted when Navarro won.
Freshman Octave Bellet was up, 6-0, 3-0, at No. 2 singles for IVC.
Irvine Valley moves on to the second round where it will take on either No. 4 Mt. SAC or No. 6 Saddleback next Tuesday at Irvine Valley. IVC hasn't played Mt. SAC this year. It has already beat Saddleback twice.
