No. 10 College of the Canyons Women’s Volleyball advances to face No. 2 Irvine Valley College (20-4) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 with a trip to the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association State Championship Tournament up for grabs.

This year’s state championship event will be hosted by Fresno City College Dec. 2-4.

Irvine Valley defeated No. 15 Bakersfield (14-10) by a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20) final score. The win was the 11th straight for the Lasers.

COC and IVC last met in the 2022 season opener on Aug. 26 with the Lasers taking a 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-20) victory. However, the two programs share a long and storied history.

Canyons and Irvine Valley have met 11 times over the past 10 seasons including twice in the postseason (2014, 2017). The Lasers hold a 9-2 advantage over that span.

In 2017, IVC defeated Canyons in a heartbreaking 3-2 (19-25, 25-13, 26-28, 25-23, 14-16) final score during the semi-final round of the CCCAA State Championship Tournament. The Lasers went on to win the 2017 state championship.

Irvine Valley also defeated COC in the second round of the 2014 CCCAA Southern California Regionals before also winning a state title in that season.

Canyons picked up back-to-back regular season victories over IVC in 2015 and 2016. The early-season victory in 2015 occurred in the same year the Cougars won a program record 26 matches and competed as hosts at the CCCAA State Championship tournament.

In 2007, Canyons upset No. 1 state ranked Irvine Valley College in the second round of the Southern California Regionals to advance to the CCCAA State Championship tournament for the first time in program history.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department or on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.