Coming off of consecutive playoff appearances, the Ventura College volleyball team comes into 2016 with high expectations of taking the next step. They got off on the right foot Friday, sweeping through the VC Kickoff Quad at the Athletic Event Center, defeating Los Angeles Trade Tech and Santa Monica by identical 3-0 scores. Paris Dosch and Armonee Hunter each had 13 kills on the day while Rachel Howery handed out 27 assists for the Pirates (2-0).
Ventura 3, LA Trade Tech 0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-15)
The Pirates showed some nerves early, falling behind 4-3 before outscoring the Beavers 22-11 the rest of the opening set taking it by a score of 25-15. The Pirates dominated the second set 25-10 to take full control of the match.
In the third set, VC held a narrow 15-14 advantage before they rallied to score 10 of the final 11 points behind the serves of Bryanna Lovingood and Mikayla Spears.
Hunter led the balanced attack with nine kills while Brianna Finch and Dosch recorded eight and seven kills, respectively. Howery had 16 assists while Spears had 13 assists and three service aces. Kierra Joyner led the defense with 11 digs and Braxton Jessie and Sariah Flores each recorded six digs. Flores led the team with four aces in the victory.
Ventura 3, Santa Monica 0 (25-12, 25-8, 27-25)
The Pirates easily handles the Corsairs in the nightcap, closing out the sweep of the VC Kickoff Quad. Dosch led the attack with six kills and Jessica Gomez had five winners. Howery had 11 assists and four aces while Lovingood and Jessie hit five and four aces, respectively. Flores was key on defense with nine digs while Cristal Gonzalez had six digs.
The Pirates return to action on Friday Sept. 2 with matches at Grossmont and San Diego Mesa. They will then play in a quad at Imperial Valley on Saturday Sept. 3, facing the host Arabs and Western Arizona.