Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team won its eighth match in a row Wednesday night, but it wasn't easy.
The Lasers, ranked No. 3 in the state, had to battle all night to beat a tough No. 8 LA Pierce team in four sets.
Irvine Valley came out on top, 25-22, 26-28, 25-20, 25-17, to improve its record to 8-1 overall.
The Lasers won four of the final five points in the first set to take an early lead.
Tied, 21-21, LA Pierce hit out and then sophomore outside hitter Patrick Furlong came through with a kill to put IVC ahead, 23-21.
After a Brahma timeout, freshman outside hitter Sean Carroll had a kill to give Irvine Valley a 24-21 lead.
IVC hit out on the next play, but then Carroll finished the set with a kill.
The Lasers had their chances to take the second set. They led, 13-5 early on, but later was up just, 19-16.
IVC still had two set points at 24-22.
But Irvine Valley netted on the next play and then Jake Kessler came up with a kill for LA Pierce to tie it at 24.
The teams were tied at 25 and 26.
Irvine Valley then hit out to give Pierce a 27-26 lead and the Brahmas closed out the set with a block by Brent Norkus.
Irvine Valley responded in the third set, taking control early and then pulling away. IVC was up, 19-14, before LA Pierce scored two points in a row.
But Irvine valley came back with four of the next five points, getting two kills by sophomore outside hitter Brennan To and a block by Furlong and sophomore middle blocker Matt August to go up, 23-17.
A kill by freshman outside hitter Trent Williams moved Irvine Valley to set point at 24-19 and two points later LA Pierce had a hitting error. Irvine Valley led, 2-1, in sets.
Irvine Valley took an early lead in the fourth set and grinded out the win. Up, 24-17, Furlong ended the match with a big kill.
IVC received 11 kills and 10 blocks from August. He leads the state in hitting percentage and blocks per set. Carroll added 10 kills seven digs and three blocks, Furlong had eight kills and seven blocks, To added seven kills and Williams had six kills and seven digs..
Sophomore setter Austin McBain ran the offense with 40 assists and chipped in four blocks and four digs. Freshman libero Kelsey Yogi contributed five digs and two aces.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting Blizzard Volleyball from the National Volleyball Association at 6 p.m. Former Irvine Valley players on the squad include Kyle Radecki, Mark Metrakos and David Grandy.
