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Irvine Valley sophomore women's volleyball player Marisa Doran has signed with Division 1 University of New Mexico.
Doran, a standout two-year outside hitter and starter for the Lasers, helped lead IVC to its first ever CCCAA state championship last fall at Cabrillo College.
Irvine Valley finished the year with a record of 27-0 overall.
In the championship match against Cabrillo, Doran finished with 17 kills, hit .395 and added 14 digs and three blocks.
Doran was selected all-Southern California region for the first time following the season.
She ranked 28th in the state in total kills with 293, 28th in hitting percentage at .320 and 38th in kills per set at 3.41.
Doran was also picked first team all-conference two years in a row.
She was also a star sand volleyball player at Irvine Valley and helped Irvine Valley win the inaugural CCCAA state title this spring.
IVC topped Grossmont, Golden West and Cabrillo in the event at Irvine Valley College.
She played on Irvine Valley's No. 1 pairs team with fellow sophomore Kobi Pekich.
She followed up that sand team state title with an individual title the next day.
Doran and Pekich won a tough battle over Grossmont's team of Lauren Hays and Lexi Reddick, 21-18, 18-21, 15-12 for an individual state title.
"Kobi and Marisa have played together for two straight years," IVC coach Tom Pestolesi said. "They are our top team for a reason. They are always moving forward and going after it. They give 100 percent all of the time and are constantly putting pressure on the other team."
Doran was a part of indoor teams at Irvine Valley that went 51-2 the past two seasons with a state championship and a state runner-up finish, a sand state championship as well as a sand individual title.
She has also been special off of the court. Doran was recently named Irvine Valley's female scholar athlete of the year. She finished with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average at Irvine Valley and graduated with an AA in biology.
And she was the athletic program's Orange Empire Conference Character Champion award winner following the 2013-14 season.
The award is given to the student athlete who displays sportsmanship, respect, caring, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity and responsibility. She was selected after showing the ability to juggle school, indoor and sand volleyball, as well as community service.
"In my 32 years of coaching I have never had a student that was better academically, athletically, competitively, and personally than Marisa," Pestolesi said. "Her sense of achievement in each of these areas also extends to her sense of duty and honor as it applies to her volunteer work in the community.
"These concepts are matched only by Marisa's drive to succeed off and on the court. Her willingness to do whatever is needed to improve herself to help the team. Her approach is simple - work hard on every rep and every play every day. And despite such intensity, she remains a true sportsman with opponents, and is a very happy and fun-loving person."
Doran is headed to a University of New Mexico indoor program in the fall that finished with a record of 19-12 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West Conference.
