The Irvine Valley men's volleyball team evened its record in conference play at 2-2 with a key five-set win over Grossmont on the road on Mar. 6.
But it has been tough sledding for the Lasers the last three matches.
IVC was swept by Golden West and Orange Coast (the top two-ranked teams in the state) and then fell to an improved Santiago Canyon squad, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20 Wednesday on the road.
The defeat dropped Irvine Valley's record to 5-10 overall and 2-5 in conference.
The win, which was Santiago Canyon's first at home this season, improved its record to 3-12 overall and 2-5 in conference.
The squads split the first two sets, but the Hawks grinded out wins in the third and fourth sets for the victory.
The Lasers had their chances throughout by service errors (16) and block hitting errors (10) were a problem.
Irvine Valley hit .265 as a team for the match and was led by freshman outside hitter Connor Engelbrecht with 18 kills and four digs. He hit .350 (18-4-40) on the night.
Sophomore outside hitter Tucker McClain added 14 kills and nine digs. He hit .312 in the match.
Sophomore outside hitter Lucas Vo was also in double-digit kills for IVC, finishing with 10 to go along with two blocks.
Freshman setter Isiah Sibbitt contributed 39 assists and three digs for Irvine Valley.
Santiago Canyon finished with 17 total blocks as a team. Brayden Payne and Jack Frame led the Hawks' offense with 18 kills apiece. Frame also had 10 digs.
The Lasers will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Palomar for a 5 p.m. conference match on Friday.
