Irvine Valley's women's tennis out-lasted Riverside, 5-4, for an important Orange Empire Conference win on Thursday at home.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in conference action.
The Lasers moved a match ahead of Riverside and stayed within a match of Orange Coast for first place in the conference.
IVC won the match with its doubles.
The Lasers pulled out wins in all three contests, including two that went down to the wire.
The team of freshmen Sarah Mae Garcia and Samantha Schwarz defeated Kelli Reynolds and Lacy Patton, 9-8 (1) at the top position, and the team of freshmen Samantha Paz and Lou Baize won over Gabrielle Ante and Samantha Moreto, 9-8 (0) at No. 2 doubles.
Irvine Valley also got a 8-4 win from its No. 3 team of sophomores Sierra Mazzarini and Karina Ryabokonova.
In singles, Irvine Valley dropped four of six matches.
But it did pick up wins from Garcia at No. 1 and Baize at No. 3 to earn the overall victory.
IVC is back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Cypress for a 2 p.m. conference match.
Irvine Valley 5, Riverside 4
Singles
1) Sarah Mae Garcia (IVC) def. Kelli Reynonlds (RCC), 6-0, 6-1
2) Gabrielle Ante (RCC) def. Samantha Paz (IVC), 7-5, 6-1
3) Lou Baize (IVC) def. Samantha Moreto (RCC), 6-3, 6-4
4) Lacy Patton (RCC) def. Karina Ryabokonova (RCC), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
5) Tiffany Cheek (RCC) def. Sierra Mazzarini (IVC), 6-7, 7-6, 10-3
6) Shannon Harris (RCC) def. Stephanie Rand (IVC), 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
1) Garcia/Samantha Schwarz (IVC) def. Reynolds/Patton (RCC), 9-8 (1)
2) Paz/Baize (IVC) def. Ante/Moreto (RCC), 9-8 (0)
3) Mazzarini/Ryabokonova (IVC) def. Ashley Bauman/Venezia Moyano (RCC), 8-4
