Pirate sophomore Davina Del Castillo has been named the Western State Conference North Division Co-MVP in voting by conference coaches earlier this week. The John Burroughs High School product was joined on the first-team All-WSC list by sophomores Jasmyne Martin and Celeste Salazar, and freshman Nikki Puga. Freshman Talitha Draper was named honorable mention all-conference. VC head coach Ned Mircetic was named Co-Coach of the Year.
Del Castillo, a 1st-team All-WSC North selection as a freshman, was the second-leading scorer for the 28-peat WSC North Division champions. She averaged 12.7 points a game and added 10.7 rebounds a contest for good measure. Del Castillo did so while shooting 44.2% from the floor and 33% from downtown. Del Castillo also averaged 2.7 steals and 2.1 assists per game, more than rounding out her game. She has an opportunity to become just the third VC player since 1993 to average a double-double with points and rebounds. (The others were Destinee LaFountain in 2011-12 and Adrianne Sloboh in 2013-14.) Del Castillo is the 22nd conference MVP in program history.
Martin is a transfer sophomore from Palm Beach Lakes High School (Fla.). She led the team in scoring at 14.6 PPG. Salazar, meanwhile hails fro Pacifica High School in Oxnard. She leads the team in assists with 3.0 APG, and has been the team's defensive stopper all season. Puga, a Camarillo High School product, leads the Pirates in 3-point shooting with 60 made three's. Draper, a Dos Pueblos High School graduate, was a force for VC inside off the bench, averaging 5.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in conference play.
For Mircetic, it's the 12th time he's been named Coach of the Year in the WSC North. He led the Pirates to an unprecedented 28th straight WSC North title, finishing the season 23-7 overall and 9-1 in WSC North play. Earlier in the season he became the fastest women's collegiate basketball coach to 800 wins, reaching the milestone in 923 games on December 10. Over his 28-year tenure at Ventura College, he has an overall record of 815-126, 301-7 in WSC North games.
Ventura earned the No. 5 overall seed in the 2018 SoCal Regional Playoffs and will host No. 12 Cypress College on Friday Feb. 23 at 7:00 pm.
