Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team got off to a slow start against a much improved and solid Chaffey team before finding its rhythm and rolling to its third straight sweep to open the 2019 season.
The Lasers came out on top, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18, to improve their record to 3-0 and hand Chaffey, which upset Long Beach City last week, its first defeat of the year.
Chaffey's record slipped to 3-1 overall.
The first set was tied, 9-9, before Irvine Valley started putting points together.
The Lasers went up, 24-21, before Kaylee Harris had a kill to get Chaffey within two points.
But Irvine Valley closed out the first set on the next point, getting a kill by sophomore middle blocker Kristin Austin.
Irvine Valley got going in the second set and played its best volleyball of the night.
The Lasers raced out to a 6-1 lead.
And an ace by sophomore middle blocker Alma Entesari made it 8-2 for IVC. Back-to-back kills by sophomore outside hitter Alaina Gendale put the Lasers up, 10-3.
Chaffey closed within 13-8 on a kill by Harris, but it was all Irvine Valley after that. The Lasers went on a 5-1 run to take control.
Two more kills in a row by Gendale gave the Lasers a 18-9 advantage.
And Irvine Valley closed out the set, scoring four of the final five points.
Ahead, 21-13, Gendale had a kill and and Austin added two kills to make it 24-13. After a Chaffey point, sophomore outside hitter Lea Kruse ended the set with a kill for IVC.
Irvine Valley took control from the start in the third set, jumping out to a 15-4 advantage behind the serving of sophomore libero Anna Unke. She had two kill during the run.
Kruse added two straight kills to give Irvine Valley a 15-4 lead and force a Chaffey timeout.
Chaffey got within six points at 21-15 late, but Irvine Valley closed out the match shortly after.
A serving error and hitting error by the Panthers and a kill by Kruse gave Irvine Valley a 24-15 lead.
After Chaffey scored three points in a row, Entesari ended the match with a kill off a set from sophomore setter Truth Hafey.
Irvine Valley received a balance attack on offense. Four players had at least nine kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Gabriela Griego, who ended with 10 kills. Kruse, Kendale and Austin each added nine kills and Entesari contributed six kills.
Kruse also had 11 digs and two aces. Gendale chipped in eight digs and Unke finished with five digs and three aces.
Hafey ran the offense with 39 assists and had two aces.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting a three-team event with Palomar and the Cal Lutheran Junior Varsity team. IVC will take on Palomar at noon, Palomar will play Cal Lutheran JV at 2:30 p.m. and then Irvine Valley will wrap up the day with a match against Cal Lu JV at 5 p.m.
