Irvine Valley's top men's volleyball player, sophomore opposite/outside hitter Demetre Gossett has committed to NAIA Vanguard University in Costa Mesa.
Gossett was not only IVC's best player, but one of the standouts in the state. He led the state in total kills with 182 and ranked No. 5 in kills per set at 3.79 when the 2020 spring season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 6-1 player out of Hillcrest High in Riverside, shined for the last two seasons for the Lasers and helped IVC finish second at the California Community College Athletic Association state championship in 2019 at Fullerton College.
The Lasers upset favored, undefeated and top-seeded Orange Coast in five sets in the semifinal before falling to Long Beach City in the final. Irvine Valley finished with a record of 15-8 overall.
Gossett was named second team all-Orange Empire Conference in 2019.
Gossett led IVC in hitting at .314 in conference action and also averaged 0.94 aces per set. He averaged 2.47 kills per set overall for the Lasers.
And he was off to a fast start for Irvine Valley in 2020.
Gossett played in 12 matches and recorded double-digit kills in eight matches including going over 20 kills in four contests, including the last two of the 2020 campaign.
He had 26 kills in IVC's five-set win at Fullerton to open Orange Empire Conference play on Mar. 11. It was the last match of the season for Irvine Valley.
Gossett also recorded 26 kills and hit .488 in a five-set Laser win at Moorpark on Feb. 19.
Irvine Valley had a record of 6-7 overall and was ranked No. 9 in the state by the men's volleyball coaches association.
He is headed to a Vanguard program guided by Brad Rostratter, who is an upcoming coach that was in his first season at Vanguard in 2020. The Lions were 10-8 overall when their season was halted.
Rostratter was a former assistant coach at Pepperdine David Hunt and played on the inaugural men's volleyball team at Concordia University. He was part of a Concordia team that won a NAIA National Championship in 2013.
