Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team started slow, but rolled to the finish.
The Lasers earned their third straight sweep and eighth of the season with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 nonconference win over Santa Monica on Wednesday night at home.
Heading into the match, IVC (14-3) was ranked No. 3 in the state and Santa Monica (6-6) was a respectful seventh.
But it was all Lasers after falling behind, 11-6, in the opening set. The Corsairs took that lead on a kill by their leading attacker Mason Johnson.
Irvine Valley then started to chip away. IVC tied the game at 13 on an ace by freshman opposite Griffin Book and then again at 14 on a kill by freshman middle blocker Josh Beymer.
The Lasers took the lead for good in the set with back to back blocks for points by Beymer and freshman setter Andrew Perez.
And ace by freshman outside hitter Colin Chillingworth and a Santa Monica hitting error gave IVC a 22-17 advantage.
Up, 22-19, Irvine Valley won the final three points of the set with it ending on a Santa Monica hitting error.
IVC led from start to finish in the second and third sets.
The Lasers pullled away with a six-point run midway through the second set. A kill by Beymer after a nice scramble by his teammates made it 19-12 and after a hitting error by the Corsairs, IVC was up, 20-12.
Freshman outside hitter Jaden Churchill had two kills in the final three points to end the set.
In the third set, Irvine Valley led, 10-3, off the bat.
And it was 14-4 after a serving error by Santa Monica. The Corsairs hung around for a while and closed within 16-11 on a block by Sean Ortiz.
But Irvine Valley responded, winning nine of the next 12 points to earn the sweep. Chillingworth had an ace to make it match point at 24-13 and two points later Santa Monica hit into the net.
Chillingworth finished with eight kills, Freshman outside hitter Karl Stenlund added seven kills and Book had five kills for the Lasers.
Perez ran the offense most of the way and ended with 19 asssists. He also had eight digs. And Beymer had another big night at the net on defense with five blocks.
The Lasers play again on Friday, hosting Santiago Canyon at 6 p.m. in an Orange Empire Conference match.
