It had been something the Pirates had been able to avoid for most of the past two seasons, but it bit on Wednesday. The VC volleyball team, ranked No. 5 in the state, fell victim to an upset at No. 22 Moorpark in four sets, 14-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-23. Kayla Murdoch led VC (10-2, 0-1) with 20 kills and 14 digs while Autumn Rojelio had 24 digs and Ashley Johnson handed out 44 assists. Makena Schaumloeffel and Talia Behrens had nine and eight kills, respectively.
Things started out well for Ventura as they claimed the first set 25-19 with 15 kills and only three hitting errors and a pair of service aces.
The second set was a different story, however, as the Pirates committed seven hitting errors and only recorded nine kills. Moorpark had just one hitting error in evening the match 25-16.
While the Raiders continued to play mistake-free volleyball in the third set, the errors continued to accumulate for Ventura. VC dropped the set 25-16.
Ventura held the upper hand for most of the fourth set. They opened up a 10-6 lead midway through, before MC came back to within one. The Pirates never relinquished the lead, however, and built a 22-18 advantage late before the wheels came off. Moorpark won seven of the next eight points to finish off the set 25-23 and claim the match, 3-1.
Kylie Ibbotson recorded seven kills on offense for the Pirates and Johnson had nine digs defensively. Murdoch added a pair of service aces and three blocks and Brianna Morrison had two blocks at the net.
The Pirates will look to rebound in their next match Friday Sept. 29. VC hosts LA Pierce with a 6:00 pm start time at the Athletic Event Center.