Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team constant improvement and tough play in the postseason was recognized when the final California Community College Women's Volleyball Coaches Association state poll was released last week.
The Lasers ended up being ranked 12th in the state and they were No. 7 in Southern California.
Irvine Valley ended the year with a record of 15-7 overall.
IVC moved up 13 spots from the final poll of the regular season three weeks ago. The only Southern California teams ahead of IVC in the state poll were Pierce at No. 2, Grossmont at No. 3, El Camino at No. 4, Cypress at No. 7, Santa Barbara City at No. 10 and Moorpark at No. 11.
Fresno City, which won the state title, was No. 1.
The Lasers won 11 of their final 14 matches of the season, including four in a row in the final two weeks of the year.
Irvine Valley closed out the regular season with wins over Fullerton (four sets), Santa Ana (three sets) and MiraCosta (five sets).
MiraCosta was ranked No. 7 in the state at the time.
The Lasers then went into the postseason as the 14th seed in the So. Cal. Regional Playoffs and upset No. 3 Santa Barbara City, 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-12, on the road on Nov. 22.
Freshman outside hitter Taira Ka'awaloa had 18 kills and 22 digs and sophomore opposite Juju Cannon finished with 17 kills to lead the way to the win.
IVC's season ended in quarterfinals of the regionals when the team was swept by No. 2 El Camino, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15.
El Camino ended up finishing third in the state.
