Irvine Valley's women's basketball team moved way up in the 2014-15 CCCAA State Rankings after winning three games in a row to capture the Chaffey Tournament last weekend.
Irvine Valley went from 17th in the state last week to No. 5 in the state when the rankings were announced on Tuesday.
The Lasers, who have a record of 6-1 overall and have won four straight games overall, trail only Mt. San Antonio, College of the Sequoias, Palomar and El Camino in the state poll.
Irvine Valley takes on El Camino in a battle of No. 4 versus No. 5 in an first-round game of the Irvine Valley Women's Tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Hart Gymnasium.
Irvine Valley is also now No. 4 in the Southern California Regional Poll. That is up from a tie for No. 12 last week.
IVC trails only Mt. SAC, Palomar and El Camino in that poll.
The Lasers defeated state-ranked teams Mt. San Jacinto, 54-47, and Fullerton, 67-48, as well as district rival Saddleback, 63-56, to win the Chaffey Tournament last weekend.
Sophomore center Breanna Turner was named the tournament's most valuable player. She had 19 points and 18 rebounds in IVC's 63-56 victory over Saddleback on Sunday in the tournament championship game.
Turner is averaging 14.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in Irvine Valley's six games so far this season.
The freshmen guard tandem of Jordan Coleman and Tara Casey was also named all-tournament last weekend.
Casey is averaging 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds a game so far and Coleman is averaging 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals a game. Coleman is also shooting 51.2 percent from the field.
Sophomore forward Conerie Brennan is averaging 8.0 points and 5.1 rebounds, freshman guard Erika Mercado is averaging 5.1 points and sophomore guard Karli Kato is averaging 4.9 points a game for the Lasers.
IVC's tournament, which starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday, is loaded this year. Three teams in the top 10 of the state rankings and four teams in the top 15 in the Southern California Regional poll are in the event.
El Camino is ranked No. 4 in the state, IVC is No. 5 and Pasadena City, which has a record of 4-2, is ranked No. 9.
In Southern California, El Camino is No. 3, IVC is No. 4, Pasadena City is No. 8 and Long Beach City is No. 13. Rio Hondo, which is also in the tourney, received votes in the So. Cal. Poll this week.
Pasadena City defeated Long Beach City, 69-64, in the title game last year.
Irvine Valley finished in third place after beating Rio Hondo, 56-35.
The event starts on Thursday at 2 p.m. with Long Beach City taking on Rio Hondo.
There are four games Thursday, four games Friday and three games on Saturday. The title game is at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
