Irvine Valley's women's volleyball team had its chances, but fell to Golden West, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23, in an important Orange Empire Conference match on Friday afternoon at home.
The Lasers were trying to move up in the standings in the conference.
They are now in fourth place with a record of 8-4 - a match behind Saddleback for third.
IVC's record went to 8-9 overall.
Golden West improved its mark to 14-3 overall and 10-2 in conference play.
Irvine Valley had leads in both the second and third sets, but had trouble finishing.
Sophomore outside hitter Alya Mersin led the Lasers with 12 kills, 15 digs and three aces.
Freshman outside hitter Emma Mendel added 11 kills, freshman middle blocker Jazlynn Fu contributed seven kills and three blocks and freshman outside hitter/setter Dalilah Rivero chipped in three kills, 10 assists and two blocks.
IVC freshman setter Tori Esko ran the offense for most of the match and ended with 17 assists.
Freshman defensive specialist Liliana Alvarez was also solid for IVC with a team-high 23 digs.
Irvine Valley plays again in a conference match on Wednesday at Cypress at 6 p.m.
