Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team won its third straight match to start Orange Empire Conference play, sweeping Riverside, 25-15, 25-23, 25-15, on the road on Friday night.
The Lasers, ranked No. 16 in the state, improved their record to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in conference, while Riverside, which was ranked No. 25 in the state, slipped to 7-4 overall and 0-3 in conference.
The Lasers hit .280 for the night, including .385 in the opening set as they took control.
Irvine Valley held leads of 6-1, 12-5, and 18-6, in the first set. Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Scheevel and freshman middle blocker Kayla Shields each had four kills in the opening set.
Riverside bounced back in the second set, scoring the first six points. The Tigers later led, 17-7, before Irvine Valley regrouped.
Irvine Valley trailed, 23-17, but scored the final eight points of the set. Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Matt served during the eight-point streak.
The Lasers tied the score at 23-23 on a kill by freshman middle blocker Brittany Tuliau. Tuliau had four kills during the late IVC run.
Shields set up set point with a kill and then sophomore setter Jenna Olbright won a joust at the net to end the set and put IVC up, 2-0.
In the third set, which featured six tie scores and three lead changes, Irvine Valley led, 11-10, and then reeled off 11 straight points, thanks, in part, to five kills by freshman opposite Olivia Aguilar.
Scheevel had the final kill to secure the set and the match.
Irvine Valley was led in kills by Scheevel and Shields with 10 each. Matt added eight kills and 11 digs and freshman middle blocker Hailey Riden and Tuliau each contributed five kills.
Olbright had a match-high 34 assists and sophomore libero Emily Reinking had a match-high 19 digs.
Nyomi Ward led the Tigers with eight kills, three block solos and two block assists. Setter Melissa Moe had a team-high 17 assists. RCC hit just -.019 on in the match.
Irvine Valley has two home matches next week. It hosts Fullerton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and then plays host to Saddleback on its annual Dig Pink match on Friday at 6 p.m.
