Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team earned an important win on Wednesday night at home.
The Lasers, ranked No. 5 in the state, bounced back from a tough loss at top-ranked Orange Coast last week, with a 25-17, 25-19, 25-15 victory over Fullerton.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in conference. And it just about clinched second place in the conference standings for IVC.
Santiago Canyon trails Irvine Valley by one match in the loss column with three matches to play, but the Hawks still have to play at Orange Coast this Friday and at Irvine Valley next Friday.
The Lasers got off to a solid start on Wednesday night against Fullerton.
A kill by freshman outside hitter Demetre Gossett, an ace by freshman libero Red Ramos and a bad set by Fullerton gave Irvine Valey a 14-8 lead in the opening set.
Gossett's ace put IVC up, 16-9, and a block later in the set by freshman middle blocker Grant Marocchi and Gossett made it 20-12.
Irvine Valley got to 23-16 on a kill by Gossett and reached set point at 24-17 on a kill by Marocchi.
The Lasers won the set on a hitting error by Fullerton.
Irvine Valley got off to a slow start in the second set, but Gossett helped turn things around with four straight aces. Trailing, 6-5, he rifled off four impressive jump serves to help put Irvine Valley ahead, 9-6, and force a Fullerton timeout.
A kill by freshman middle blocker Tristan Belsby made it 13-9 and another Belsby kill put Irvine Valley in front, 15-10.
Two aces later in the set by sophomore outside hitter Sean Carroll gave Irvine Valley a 21-14 lead and the Lasers never looked back.
Marocchi gave the team a 22-16 lead with a kill and a kill by freshman outside hitter Declan Holder made it 23-17.
Four points later, Fullerton was called for a back row attack to give IVC the set and a 2-0 lead.
The Lasers kept their momentum going in the third and final set, racing out to a 19-12 advantage.
A kill by Gossett and then an overpass kill by Carroll put IVC up, 21-13.
And freshman middle blocker Kalei Ho'opai closed things out with a kill to give Irvine Valley match point and then an ace to end it.
Gossette led the way with 12 kills and six aces. Carroll had seven kills, Belsby added six kills, Marocchi had five kills and Holder ended up with four kills in a balanced effort.
Freshman setter Jimi Wilson contributed 23 assists for IVC.
Irvine Valley has Friday off from conference action and plays at Golden West next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
