SoCal's Top-ranked Irvine Valley Blanks Riverside, 3-0

RIVERSIDE -- Playing one of its better matches against the top-ranked team in Southern California, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's volleyball squad lost, 3-0, to the Irvine Valley College (IVC) Lasers Friday evening (Oct. 31) in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) match at RCC's legendary Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium.

Irvine Valley (16-0, 9-0 OEC) won by the set scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-9, over Riverside (6-12, 3-6 OEC). In the all-time series which began in 1997, IVC leads, 33-3, including wins in the last 32 matches.

In the first set, RCC led briefly at 9-8, before IVC scored five straight points to take a 13-9 lead and was never headed.

In the second set, the Tigers forged an 18-14 lead before the Lasers scored eight straight points for a 22-18 advantage, en route to the 25-19 win. RCC broke a 14-14 tie, thanks, in part, to sophomore outside hitter Naomi Tilford (Vista / Vista '11 / San Diego Mesa CC) who knocked down three kills.

The third set saw Riverside lead briefly at 4-2, before Irvine Valley scored the next seven points for a 9-4 lead. After a IVC service error, the Lasers then scored 12 straight points for a 21-5 lead and cruised to a 25-9 win.

Sophomore middle hitter Annie Mitchem (Friendswood, TX) had a match-high 14 kills for IVC, followed closely by sophomore outside hitter Marisa Doran (Villa Park HS) with 13 kills. Sophomore setter Hailey Jones (Rim of the World HS) had a match-high 33 set assists, and sophomore Kobi Pekich (Calvary Chapel) had a match-high 12 digs, and Doran had 11 digs.

For Riverside, Tilford had a team-high 13 kills, mostly from the back row. Frosh setter Melissa Moe (Riverside / Poly '14) had 21 set assists and ten digs, and frosh defensive specialist Kristen Garcia-Simental (La Sierra HS) had a team-high ten digs.

In its next action on Wednesday, Nov. 5, Riverside will visit the Saddleback College Gauchos in a 6 p.m. match before IVC visits the Santa Ana College (SAC) Dons in a 7 p.m. start.

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