Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team closed out the regular season with a solid four-set win over Fullerton on Friday night at home.
It was a night that Irvine Valley also celebrated its 2007 state championship team.
Irvine Valley dropped the first set, but came storming back and won the next three to take the 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 26-24 victory.
With the win, the Lasers, who are ranked No. 2 in the state, secured second place in the Orange Empire Conference. Irvine Valley improved its record to 15-3 overall and 6-2 in conference.
Sixth-ranked Fullerton, which is in its first year as a program, finished in in third place in the conference. The Hornets record went to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in conference.
Both teams will take part in the CCCAA State Playoffs next Friday. The Lasers should be a top-three seed.
After a slow start, Irvine Valley still ended up hitting .476 as a team in the match.
Freshman outside hitter Patrick Furlong was the star for the Lasers. He finished with 24 kills, nine digs and two aces to lead the way. Furlong also hit .476.
Freshman middle blocker Matt August had 15 kills in 17 attempts (.824 hitting percentage) and added five blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Cody Hermanson contributed nine kills and eight blocks. He also hit .600 and had no hitting errors in the contest.
Freshman outside hitter Brennan To chipped in six kills and 11 digs, sophomore libero Josh Evers had 13 digs and freshman setter Austin McBain ended with 52 assists and eight digs for IVC.
In between the second and third sets of the match, long-time Irvine Valley coach Tom Pestolesi introduced and honored members of the 2007 championship team. The squad had a record of 17-3 overall and was the EPacific Coast Athletic Conference champion. IVC upset Long Beach City (15-13) in the fifth set) to win the state title.
The team was made up of Marcus Fernandez, Kaleo Baxter, Sean Grubbs, Tim Golden, Mitch Lawrence, Tyler Rex, Rory Jones, Adam el-Rakabawy, Peter Johnson, Ted Slaughter, Bryan Simmons and Cory Walker with coaches Tom Pestolesi and Jay Hosack.
