When the first rankings of the season came out on Monday, the SoCal No. 3-ranked Pirates match at No. 4 San Diego Mesa was instantly circled. Wednesday's match lived up to its billing as the Pirates played well but could not overcome the Olympians ' home court advantage falling in four sets, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 26-24. Kayla Murdoch knocked out 22 kills and Ashley Johnson handed out 39 assists while Talia Behrens hit .471 in the middle with eight winners and no hitting errors in 17 chances.
Despite the long trip, the Pirates were sharp in the first set, taking in 25-22 from the hosts.
Mesa came back strong, however, evening the match up winning the second set, also by a 25-22 count.
The Olympians took control of the match with a solid 25-17 win tin the third, but the Pirates came storming back.
The fourth set was back and forth with both teams taking the offensive. Ventura was down 24-21 with Mesa sitting on match-point when a sideout was followed by a pair of Kylie Ibbotson service aces to tie the set at 24. A third serve appeared to be in, but was ruled out giving the Olympians the edge, on which they capitalized to clinch the match.
Alba Romanos Gracia recorded seven kills for the Pirates and Autumn Rojelio had 21 digs. Johnson recorded eight digs defensively while Murdoch and Makena Schaumloeffel each had seven. Brianna Morrison had a pair of solo blocks at the net with one assisted block and Johnson hit three service aces.
The loss was the Pirates' first regular-season non-conference setback since Sept. 1, 2021, ending a string of 21 straight non-conference wins.
VC will look to bounce back on Friday Sept. 8 at the Pasadena Quad. The Pirates take on Citrus at 11:00 am and Fullerton at 2:00 pm.