The VC men's water polo team closed out the 2019 season with a third place finish in the Western State Conference Tournament Friday and Saturday at LA Valley. The No. 3-seeded Pirates dropped a 15-5 decision to No. 2 Cuesta in Friday's semifinal before coming back to defeat No. 4 Santa Monica 14-8 Saturday to claim third place in the draw. Jake Peters had four goals in the two games to lead the Pirates while Ryan Reardon and Austin Brunk scored three goals each for VC (11-15, 3-3).
Ventura 5, Cuesta 15
The Cougars slowly built a lead, holding VC scoreless throughout the first half. Cuesta led 5-0 at halftime, and doubled that advantage to 12-2 at the end of the third period. Peters had three goals with a steal to lead Ventura and Brandyn Robles scored once with two assists, two drawn ejections and a steal. Dru Coronado scored once with a helper and Austin Brunk recorded one assist and two steals. Daniel Mclean had three saves, eight blocks and three steals in the cage.
Ventura 14, Santa Monica 8
The Pirates closed out the year with a victory in the third place game. Brunk netted three goals with two assists and four steals while Reardon scored three times with three assists. Robles finished with a goal, two assists,three drawn ejections and four thefts. Brandon Berce found the cage twice while Peters, Trevor Campbell, Zach Ziegler, Julian Larios and Gabriel Ibarra all recorded goals. Mclean had four saves and two blocks to protect the goal against the Corsairs.