Irvine Valley wraps up regular season with sweep of OCC

The Irvine Valley women's volleyball team finished the 2015 regular season with another win.

The Lasers improved their record to 15-5 overall and 12-2 in the Orange Empire Conference with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 victory at Orange Coast on Wednesday night.

Irvine Valley had already wrapped up its third straight conference title.

For the Lasers, freshman right side Olivia Aguilar and sophomore outside hitter Kayla Scheevel led the way with 16 kills each. Scheevel also had 16 digs, four blocks and hit .520 on the night.

Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Matt added seven kills, sophomore libero Emily Reinking had 16 digs, freshman defensive specialist Cozette Hawyrliak ended with four aces and sophomore setter Jenna Olbright had 37 assists.

IVC jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the opening set, but the Pirates, playing with just eight players, hung tough with one of the top teams in Southern California and used 13-7 run to grab a 20-19 lead.

But the Lasers fought back and used kills by Scheevel, Aguilar and freshman middle blocker Hailey Riden to cap off a 6-2 run to grab the opening set.

It was more of the same for both teams in the second set as, once again, IVC jumped out early (11-4) only to see the Pirates outscore the Lasers 16-9 to even the set at 20.

But, a pair of Aguilar kills and single put-aways by Scheevel, Matt and Riden capped of a 5-1 run down the stretch to give the Lasers a two-set advantage.

Coast held a 10-8 lead in the third set after some unforced IVC mistakes early on, but the Lasers regrouped and proceeded to run away with the final set, courtesy of a 17-7 run.

Orange Coast finished the regular season with a record of 13-10 overall and 5-9 in conference.

Irvine Valley now awaits the announcement of the Southern California Regional playoff pairings this weekend.

IVC went into this week ranked 13th in the state and sixth in Southern California.

The regional playoffs begin next Tuesday.