WOMEN'S WATER POLO: Splitting a pair of matches on Friday, and winning one on Saturday, the VC women's water polo team placed third at the Western State Conference Tournament over the weekend in Santa Monica. Lauren McCaslin paced the Pirate offense with eight goals in the three matches while Jerilyn Hollis found the back of the net five times. Scarlett Lund-Sidi had five assists while Molly Watkins turned back 19 shots in goal for Ventura (18-10-1).
Ventura 8, Santa Monica 7, Friday 11-8
In the opening game of the tournament, the No. 3 seed Pirates held off No. 6 Santa Monica 8-7. McCaslin had four goals, three steals, two drawn ejections and a drawn 5m shot for VC and Ashley Runyon scored twice with a pair of assists, three drawn ejections and two steals. Hollis had a goal and five steals in the match while Brittany McWaid scored once with an assist and three steals. Vanessa Vega recorded five steals in three quarters of play defensively while Jessica Peace and Justine Legaspi grabbed three and two steals, respectively.
Ventura 5, LA Valley 13, Friday 11-8
The floodgates opened against the Pirates in the second half of the semifinal as a 4-2 deficit at halftime turned into a 13-5 loss. five players, McCaslin, Runyon, Hollis, McWaid, and Cecily Loya, scored one goal each offensively. Runyon drew three ejections and had two steals while Hollis handed out an assist with one drawn ejection and two steals. Lund-Sidi had two assists and two steals and Watkins recorded seven saves with two steals.
Ventura 9, Citrus 7, Saturday 11-9
Ventura regrouped to take the third-place game on Saturday, defeating Citrus 9-7. The Pirates turned a 2-1 disadvantage after one quarter into a 6-2 lead after the second quarter of play. McCaslin led the effort with three scores, an assist, one drawn ejection and two steals. Hollis also scored three goals with two drawn ejection. Sarah Shah scored twice and Runyon had a goal with two assists and a steal. Watkins had nine saves in the cage with three steals while Loya and Peace grabbed three and two steals, respectively. Lund-Sidi handed out three assists.
The Pirates will now await the announcement of the playofff seedings to see if they will qualify for an at-large selection into the Southern California Regional Playoffs to be held Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 14-16 at Cerritos College.