Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team beat every team in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference this season except Orange Coast.
The Lasers just couldn't find an answer for the Pirates during the regular season and it happened again in the CCCAA State Championship semifinals on Wednesday night at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
Orange Coast defeated Irvine Valley for the third time this season, coming away with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 victory to advance to Friday's state title match.
Orange Coast will be looking to capture is first state title since 1994 when it takes on Santa Monica at 7 p.m. on Friday at Santiago Canyon.
Ty Hutchins posted a match-high 20 kills to lead OCC on Wednesday.
Hutchins and Jim Webb (12 kills) provided the Pirates' offense, totaling 32 of the squad's 46 kills on the night while Brendan Duff led with 42 assists.
Orange Coast, the Pacific Coast Conference champion, powered its way to a win in the first set.
Irvine Valley took an early lead in the second set, jumping out to a 8-4 advantage. But Orange Coast scored eight of the next 10 points to go ahead, 12-10.
The Lasers were within 14-12 when Orange Coast went on a 5-1 run to go up, 19-13, and take control.
Irvine Valley had chances in the third set. The set saw 10 tie scores and two lead changes.
But with the scored tied at 12, Orange Coast put together a 7-0 run behind the serving of Duff to go ahead 19-12 and effectively put the set out of reach.
Duff capped the run with a pair of aces before the Pirates broke the scoring streak with a hitting error.
The Lasers got as close as 22-19 in the third after a block by freshman middle blocker Kevin Vaz and an OCC hitting error, but a kill by Hutchins at match-point sealed the victory for the Pirates.
Irvine Valley, the PCAC's No. 3 seed, got a team-best 10 kills and four digs from freshman outside hitter Cole Murray while freshman opposite Davis Cannon added nine kills and three blocks.
Vaz finished with five kills and three blocks and freshmen setters John Lasezky and Steven Duhoux had 15 and 11 assists, respectively.
The Lasers closed their season with a 13-8 overall record.
Murray ended up being named to the all-tournament team for IVC.
