In a match-up between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state, the top-ranked Irvine Valley men's tennis team outlasted rival Riverside, 5-3, on the road Tuesday night.
The match was called at 10 p.m. with IVC already having clinched the victory when the lights went out at Riverside.
The match was pushed back from its originally scheduled time of 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. because of excessive heat across Southern California.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 8-1 and 6-0 in the Orange Empire Conference.
And the victory also clinched at least a share of the conference title for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley has two conference matches left and can clinch the title outright with a win over Fullerton at home on Thursday. That match has also been pushed back to 6 p.m. because of extreme heat and humidity.
The Lasers really had to work for the win on Tuesday, though.
Having beaten Riverside last month, 5-4, in another close contest, IVC found itself in trouble early.
Riverside won two of the three doubles matches to start to take a 2-1 lead.
Irvine Valley's lone win in doubles came from the top duo of freshmen Philip Neuman and Steven Anderson. They came out on top in a tight match, 8-6.
But the Lasers turned things around in singles, winning four of the five matches that finished.
Neuman won, 6-1, 6-0, in a dominant performance at No. 1 singles.
Anderson grinded out a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win on the second court and Irvine Valley also received victories from freshman Humam Alajeely on the fourth court (6-1, 6-4) and sophomore Nevin McCann at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 7-5.
Riverside's record slipped to 12-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
After IVC takes on Fullerton on Thursday, the Lasers finish the regular season against Orange Coast next Tuesday at home at 2 p.m.
