Women’s IVC volleyball sweeps Riverside off the court
IVC up against Riverside (Riley Tanner/ Lariat)
The Irvine Valley College women’s volleyball team swept Riverside Friday.
The scores were 25-8, 25-14, 25-17.
The first game went amazingly well for the Lasers, they began the match with an early lead of 5-0 and definitely put the pressure on Riverside.
This lead mostly comprised of two devastating blocks coupled with two aces. The Irvine women continued their spree until the Tigers finally made it to the board at 7-1.
Game one was no contest, as the Lasers kept up an impressive lead that the Tigers couldn’t hope to close.
“We put a lot of pressure on them with our serves, and you know struggling against a serve is never favorable.” Said head coach Tom Pestoleci. “We stayed focused and didn’t make too many stupid mistakes.”
The rest of game one favored the Lasers with a hefty lead.
Constant heavy blocking, serving, and hard, high hitting put the Tigers on their heels and kept them guessing while the Lasers racked up the points to emerge victorious in game one with a final score of 25-8.
The tigers began to rally at the beginning of game two.
Sparring set the teams close in points for the first few points, but an exceptionally long rally broke the stalemate at 6-3. With their ferocity spent, the tigers declined into a slow spiral of depression that was more and more evident as play continued.
Game two was punctuated by big hits from Annie Kim, an outside hitter who managed 13 kills overall. Annie also made the game-winning hit for round two at 25-14.
“I feel great.’ Said Annie Kim. “We play really well together and it works.”
The third and final set was little different, the Lasers squared off against their now demoralized and battered opponent. The Irvine women pulled ahead early, cresting 6-1 before errors diminished their lead at 7-4.
With little positive momentum of their own, the Tigers began capitalizing on our mistakes and rejoicing in every error we made.
While it was not enough for a victory, the Tigers made more points and pressed a more interesting game that the previous two.
The third game was no blowout like the other two, but the Lasers kept a consistent lead that the Tigers couldn’t cut down. The game ended 25-17