Despite a solid effort at the CCCAA Beach Volleyball Pairs Championships, Ventura's No. 1 duo of Raphaella Rosales and Vanessa Ihrke had their season come to an end in Chula Vista on Friday. The pair went 1-2 in pool play at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center outside of San Diego.
The Pirates' top pair lost their first match of the afternoon to a team from College of the Desert, 21-15, 22-20, before defeating a pair from Cabrillo College, 21-18, 21-15.
Needing a win in the final match of the day to advance to the State Sweet 16 on Saturday, Rosales and Iheke fought the good fight but could not earn the victory, falling to a team from Feather River College, 21-17, 22-20.
Rosales and Ihrke became the fifth VC pair to play the state championships, and are the first Pirate team to advance to state under the current pairs post-season format which began in 2018. Their loss Friday ends the 2019 Pirate beach volleyball season, one in which Ventura claimed its second Western State Conference title in the past three seasons.
