The Irvine Valley men's tennis team is back in the 3C2A state final.
Irvine Valley lost both matches during Orange Empire Conference play against Riverside.
But on Saturday in the SoCal regional final, the Lasers, seeded fourth in the south, earned their second straight upset of the postseason.
After beating No. 1 Ventura earlier this week, Irvine Valley defeated No. 3 Riverside, 5-2, Saturday afternoon on the road.
Irvine Valley (12-2) will now take on Foothill in the state championship on Apr. 23 at Ventura College.
The Lasers last won the CCCAA title in 2017, taking down American River, 5-1, in Ventura.
On Saturday at Riverside (16-5), Irvine Valley won all three doubles matches to get off to a great start.
The defending state champion No. 1 team of sophomores Nick Grove and Luciano Pardo came through with a big 9-8 victory for IVC.
And the Lasers also picked up wins at No. 2 with sophomore Luis Moros and freshman Nevin McCann (8-5) and the No. 3 duo of sophomore Sufyan Ashraf and freshman Lucas Diaz (8-5).
IVC ended the match with two victories in singles.
Moros moved the Lasers within a match of the win with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph at No. 2 singles.
And Grove fought and rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win on the first court to clinch the overall victory.
Irvine Valley now takes on a Foothill team that defeated American River, 5-3, in the NoCal regional final.
