Irvine Valley fell to Santa Barbara City, 5-4, in a tight match in its 2019 season opener on Tuesday afternoon at home.
The Lasers won two of three doubles sets and later held a 4-3 lead with two singles matches to play. But Santa Barbara City captured the final two singles contests to pull out the win.
Irvine Valley got wins in doubles to start things off by its No. 1 team of freshmen Sabrina Mendy and Ashley Le and from its No. 3 team of freshmen Brigget Lee and Ariyana Ash.
Lee and Ash won in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-3) after being down 6-3 at one point in the match.
In singles, Mendy, IVC's No. 1 singles player got a quick win when Santa Barbara City's Jamaica Buyse had to retire after one game to give Irvine Valley a 3-1 lead.
But Santa Barbara City won three of the remaining four singles matches to earn the overall win.
Le also picked up a win at No. 2 singles for the Lasers, beating Joica Buyse, 6-1, 6-4.
Irvine Valley, which was the runner-up in the Orange Empire Conference, made the semifinals of the regional team playoffs and ended up ranked No. 5 in the state last season, is scheduled to host College of the Desert on Thursday at home at 2 p.m.
Singles
1. Sabrina Mendy (IVC) def. Jamaica Buyse (SBCC), 1-0, retired
2. Ashley Le (IVC) def. Joica Buyse (SBCC), 6-1, 6-4
3. Anya Nicolaides (SBCC) def. Alaina Spearman (IVC), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Victoria Davos (SBCC) def. Brigget Lee (IVC), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
5. Jule Lauringer (SBCC) def. Ariyana Ash (IVC), 6-1, 6-1
6. Maddie Mitchell (SBCC) def. Collette Kelly (IVC), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Mendy/Le (IVC) def. Buyse/Buyse (SBCC), 8-3
2. Nicolaides/Dafos (SBCC) def. Spearman/Kelly (IVC), 8-0
3. Lee/Ash (IVC) def. Lauinger/Mitchell (SBCC), 9-8 (7-3)
