The dream postseason of the Irvine Valley men's volleyball team ended on Saturday night in the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship match.
But Irvine Valley first-year head coach Ryan Windisch was sure proud of his team for battling its way to the final.
Irvine Valley, seeded fourth, fell to No. 3 Long Beach City, 25-22, 25-12, 25-12.
Long Beach City was the better team on Saturday. But Irvine Valley has been as good as anyone over the last two weeks.
IVC upset top-seeded and undefeated Orange Coast in four sets on Thursday to reach the final match.
And the Lasers were right with Long Beach City through all of the first set on Saturday before the Vikings took over.
Long Beach City finished the year with a record of 19-3 overall under seventh-year head coach Jonathan Charette.
Kyle Anema was named the State Championship MVP after finishing with a match-high 13 kills in the final.
LBCC's Uriel Batista and Joseph Rocha were named to the All-State Tournament team. Bautista had 10 kills (a strong one to close out the first set), and Rocha ended with 33 assists.
The Lasers wrapped up their year with a record of 15-8 overall under Windisch and he said "I already can't wait for next season."
Freshman middle blocker Tristan Belsby and freshman outside hitter Declan Holder were both named to the All-State Tournament team. Belsby had six kills on the night.
Sophomore outside hitter Sean Carroll finished with seven kills and freshman outside hitter Demetre Gossett had eight digs.
IVC will lose Carroll and freshman middle blocker Grant Marrochi (Long Beach State signee) next year, but look to return a strong group of players that contributed as freshmen this year, including Belsby, Holder and Gossett among others. IVC had just three sophomores on its roster this year.
2019 CCCAA Men's Volleyball State Championship All-Tournament Team
MVP – Kyle Anema – LBCC
Joseph Rocha – LBCC
Uriel Batista – LBCC
Declan Holder - IVC
Tristan Belsby - IVC
Kyle McCauley- Orange Coast
Cruz Padilla - El Camino
