Star Irvine Valley men's volleyball player Demetre Gossett has signed with NAIA power Benedictine University in Arizona.
Benedictine reached the NAIA national championship match before losing to Vanguard in five sets. The Redhawks ended up with a record of 27-4 overall and won the Cal Pac Conference with a mark of 12-0.
Gossett, a 6-1 opposite, was named an Orange Empire Conference co-most valuable player of the year this past season for the Lasers.
Gossett averaged 3.82 kills per set, which was third best in the OEC, had 252 total kills, hit .327 and averaged an OEC-leading 0.77 aces per set.
He helped lead Irvine Valley to a record of 16-3 overall and 7-1 in conference. IVC shared the OEC championship with Orange Coast.
The Lasers reached the California Community College Athletic Association state semifinals.
Gossett finished with double digit kills in 14 of Irvine Valley's 19 matches and finished with more than 20 kills in two contests for IVC.
He had a season-best 22 kills at San Diego Mesa on Feb. 22. Gossett also had a season-high 10 digs in that contest.
Gossett finished with a season-high five blocks in a five-set win over Long Beach City on Feb. 4 and had seven aces in Irvine Valley's five set win over Orange Coast on Mar. 31.
Gossett also competed at Irvine Valley during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The 2020 season was cut short due to COVID.
At the time the season was cut short, Gossett led the state in total kills with 182 and ranked No. 5 in kills per set at 3.79.
He helped IVC finish second at the CCCAA state championship in 2019.
The Lasers finished with a record of 15-8 overall.
Gossett was named second team all-Orange Empire Conference in 2019.
