The Irvine Valley Athletic Department is proud to announce sophomore star women's vollyeball player Jayli Nealy and standout men's tennis player Kiichi Ishida as the athletes of the year for the 2022-23 school year.
Nealy signed with NCAA Division I Cal State Fullerton.
Nealy, a 6-1 sophomore opposite, was a two-year standout for the Lasers. She helped IVC capture an Orange Empire Conference title last fall and over her two years etched her name in the Laser record books.
The title was Irvine Valley's fourth in the last six seasons (no season was played in 2020).
Nealy and IVC freshman outside hitter Tessa Marocco were named co-most valuable players in the conference as they led their team to a record of 15-1 in the OEC.
Nealy was also named all-state for the second year in a row.
Irvine Valley advanced to the So. Cal. Regional Playoffs and finished the year with a record of 20-5 overall.
Nealy ended the year ranked third in the OEC in kills with 334 while adding 61 total blocks, good for fifth on the OEC leaderboard. Nealy averaged 3.93 kills per set and also had a hitting percentage of .302 on the year.
Her 334 kills for 2022 ranks tied for seventh all-time at Irvine Valley.
She had three matches with at least 20 kills over the season, including a season high 23 in a five-set win over MiraCosta at the San Diego Mesa Quad on Sept. 9.
Nealy was also picked all-OEC in 2021 as the Lasers finished with a record of 16-6 overall and 12-4 in conference, while making the So. Cal. regional playoffs.
Nealy led the conference in kills per set at 3.64 and in overall kills with 284. She also ranked fourth in hitting percentage at .298 and blocks at 0.94.
Her 284 kills is tied for 15th in the Laser record books and her 618 career kills rank third all-time.
Nealy had 25 kills in a five-set Irvine Valley victory over Orane Coast on Sept. 29, 2021. It tied for 11th for most kills in a match at IVC.
Ishida was selected in both singles as an All-American for the men's tennis team.
It was the second straight year that Ishida was named an All-American.
Ishida, who won the California Community College Athletic Association state doubles title in 2022 with IVC teammate Arthur Bellegy, wrapped up a special 2023 season in March in Ojai.
He finished in third place in both singles and doubles over what is one of the toughest four days of the year among all sports.
Ishida and teammate Devon Kashishian fought to win their quarterfinal match, defeating Ravi Nelson and Spencer Hill of American Riever, 6-7, 7-5, (10-7), before losing to eventual champs from College of the Desert Joe Corse and Eita Ishikawa, 6-4, 6-4, in the semis.
Ishida also battled through a tough quarterfinal match in singles, winning in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, over Santino Serrlango from Ventura.
Ishida's tournament ended in singles competition to Desert's Hernan Olivas, 6-3, 6-2, in the semis.
Ishida led Irvine Valley to another Orange Empire Conference title, a trip to the So. Cal. playoffs and an overall record of 8-2 overall.
The full 2022-23 IVC Annual Awards Program can be seen here
