The Irvine Valley women's volleyball team got its 2017 season off to an impressive start on Friday night at home.
The Lasers swept Citrus, 25-12, 25-15, 25-10, in a match that took just over an hour to finish.
IVC got contributions from all over.
Sophomore returning all-Orange Empire Conference outside hitter Taira Ka'awaloa ended with 10 kills, six digs and two aces, freshman outside hitter Alyssa Vortouni finished with nine kills and hit .533, sophomore outside hitter Olivia Aguilar added six kills, eight digs and two blocks, freshman middle blocker Alma Entesari had five kills and three blocks and sophomore right side Diamond Brogan chipped in four kills.
Sophomore setter Megan Ramseyer, who played at the University of Idaho last season, ended with 30 assists and eight digs. Freshman libero Renata Bath had eight digs and four aces, sophomore libero Gabi Lau had six digs and four aces and freshman defensive specialist Jade Parham also had four aces.
"This group works really hard and there is already great chemistry and team camaraderie," Irvine Valley coach Tom Pestolesi said. "This team has a chance to be pretty good."
Irvine Valley wasted no time getting ahead at the start. The Lasers raced out to a 20-10 lead and then scored four points in a row to go up, 24-10.
Three points later Ka'awaloa ended the set with a kill.
Irvine Valley fell behind, 5-3, to start the second set, but righted the ship with a 5-3 run to tie it at 8-8 on an ace by Ka'awaloa.
Tied, 10-10, Irvine Valley scored six of the next eight points to take control. A kill by Brogan gave Irvine Valley a 14-12 lead and another kill by Ka'awaloa made it 16-12 and forced a Citrus timeout.
An ace by Vortouni later in the set made it 22-15 for the Lasers.
A kill by Entesari two points later set up set point and Ka'awaloa's kill finished the set.
Irvine Valley didn't let up in the third set. The Lasers jumped to a 12-3 lead on three aces by Bath and back-to-back kills by Vortouni.
The Lasers led, 21-7, after a Citrus hitting error.
And Entesari finished the set and match out for Irvine Valley. Her kill gave IVC a 22-10 advantage. Entesari served an ace to make it 23-10 and two points later another ace by Entesari closed out the contest.
Irvine Valley plays again next Wednesday, traveling to Chaffey for a 5 p.m. match.
