The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team enjoyed sophomore night at home Wednesday with a 25-13, 25-18, 25-14 win over Fullerton at home.
But the Lasers, ranked No. 2 in the state, know they still have some work to do to finish the regular season.
Third-ranked Orange Coast swept Golden West on Wednesday to clinch at least a share of the Orange Empire Conference title.
IVC needs to win at No. 9 Santiago Canyon on Friday to earn a share of the conference crown.
"That is the focus now," first-year Irvine Valley coach Rory Jones said of his squad, which improved its record to 15-2 overall and 6-1 in the OEC.
Before Wednesday night's match started, Jones and his staff honored sophomores Julio Gutierrez, Adam Schulte, Nolan Heinemann, Ethan Nau, Leonardo Mazuco and Demetre Gossett for their dedication and hard work as part of the Laser program.
And then Irvine Valley started rolling. IVC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and never looked back.
Up, 17-11, the Lasers went on a 5-0 run capped by a kill by Heinemann to take a 22-12 lead.
An overpass kill by freshman outside hitter Matt Reid moved IVC to set point at 24-12. And two points later Heinemann tooled the block to put the set away.
The second set was the closest of the night.
Fullerton was within 10-9 when the Lasers pulled away.
A block by freshman middle blocker Chris Rivera and Heinemann, a kill by Gossett, a kill by Rivera and another kill by Gossett moved Irvine Valley out in front, 15-9.
The Hornets only got within five points the rest of the set. A kill by Reid gave Irvine Valley a 22-15 advantage and another kill by Reid moved the Lasers within two points of the set.
Ahead, 24-18, Irvine Valley's Jared Irwin finished the set with a kill.
IVC raced out early in the third set and cruised from there. The Lasers scored three of the final four points of the set to end the night.
The Lasers went up, 23-13, on a kill by freshman outside hitter Zach McEntire and then got back-to-back kills by normal libero Schulte, who was playing in the front row, to give IVC its 15th win of the year.
Nine different players recorded a kill for Irvine Valley.
Gossett led the way with 12 kills and a .625 hitting percentage.
Gutierrez, freshman outside hitter Damon Kooiman and Schulte each added six kills. Gutierrez also had four blocks.
Irvine Valley hit .345 as a team on the night. Freshman setter Kaina Alvarez ran the offense with 29 assists.
After Friday's season-ending matches across the state, playoff pairings will be released this weekend.
