In a meeting of the past two state champions, the Moorpark College men's volleyball team was eliminated in four games Tuesday night by host Irvine Valley in the CCCAA state quarterfinals.

"We took it on the chin out there," said Moorpark coach Steve Burkhart. "I thought we played well. Irvine just played a little better. That's all."

Sophomore outside hitter Tyler Peterson had 16 kills, freshman middle blocker Dustin Neary had 10 kills, setter Evan Litchfield had 34 assists and libero Dylan Shigekawa added 23 digs as Moorpark dropped its first postseason game since winning the 2010 state title.

Defending champ Irvine Valley (12-7) advances to face top-ranked Long Beach City in the state Final Four Thursday.

Moorpark (11-7) brought a three-match winning streak into the postseason, clinching the Western State Conference's third and final berth by sweeping its final three opponents, including No. 1 Long Beach.

But that streak ended when the Raiders dropped a sloppy first game, 25-18.

"They got out to a good start," said Burkhart. "We just didn't pass well. We just didn't do a lot of things real well (in the opening game)."

Moorpark dropping a tight second game 25-22, but responded by snatching the third game 25-18 and leading the fourth game, 14-13, before succumbing 25-19.

"We were in it to the end and just made a couple big errors," said Burkhart. "They just played a little bit better than we did."