The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team got off to a slow start, but finished with a flourish in a season-opening sweep at Antelope Valley on Thursday night.
The Lasers, who reached the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship final match last season and ended up ranked No. 2 in the state, defeated Antelope Valley, 25-23, 25-23, 25-13.
Irvine Valley won a back and forth first set.
The Lasers actually trailed, 13-6, in the second half before mounting a rally for the win and then cruised in the third and final set.
IVC hit a solid .407 as a team in the match.
Freshman outside hitter Colin Chillingworth had eight kills with no errors and hit .800. He also added two aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Demetre Gossett contributed seven kills and three aces, sophomore outside hitter Max Wise had six aces and four digs and sophomore setter Jimi Wilson ran the offense with 30 assists.
Sophomore libero Red Ramos had a team-best five digs and chipped in three aces.
Irvine Valley will get an even bigger test on Saturday when it plays Long Beach City in the Orange Coast Quad. That match is at 10 a.m.
IVC and Long Beach City battled for the CCCAA State Championship last year with the Vikings coming away with title in a 25-22, 25-12, 25-12 victory at Fullerton College.
Irvine Valley will also play El Camino at 3 p.m. as part of the quad event at OCC.
