VOLLEYBALL: At the end of the night, the final score read 3-0 in favor of visiting Long Beach City College. But the Pirate volleyball team fought hard, holding leads late in the final two sets before falling to the No. 25 Vikings in VC's 2013 home opener Wednesday night at the Athletic Event Center. Kirra Drury led the Pirate offense with 11 kills and Dana Cleavenger dolled out 31 assists. Meanwhile Jasmine Perez had a pair of service aces and Sydney Morris registered 12 digs for Ventura (1-3).
The Pirates battled nerves early, falling behind 8-3 in the first set. Sarah Veloz led a rally from serve as the Pirates scored the next three points, and eventually knotted the score at 9-9. The Vikings took control at that point, going on an 11-1 run, claiming the set 25-17.
Morris served earlyin the second set as Ventura raced to a 7-1 advantage. Long Beach battled back, however, tying the score at 13-13. The Vikings rallied to a 22-18 lead when Drury served five straight points for a 23-22 Pirate advantage. Veloz had a key tip for a point in the run, closing the Pirates to within one point.VC had two set points, ahead 24-22, but could not finish off LBCC, and the Vikings claimed the second set, 26-24.
In another back-and-forth affair in the third set, VC led 8-4 before Long Beach took a 12-10 lead. The Vikings held a 1-2 point lead from that point on until VC managed to tie the score at 18-18. A Drury tip put Ventura ahead 20-19, but that would be the Pirates' final lead of the match, as LBCC claimed the third set and the match, 25-22.
VC will host a double-header of sorts on Friday Sept. 13 at the Athletic Event Center. They will host the JV team from Cal Lutheran at 3:00 pm before hosting Glendale at 7:00 pm, both at the Athletic Event Center.