They haven't been playing poorly, but the wins haven't come. The Ventura College women's water polo team turned that trend around Wednesday with a commanding 17-5 win at Pierce College to end a seven-match losing streak just in time for next week's Western State Conference Tournament. Cecily loya had three goals and four steals in the win for the Pirates (11-12, 4-2).
Ventura battled to a 3-2 advantage after the first eight minute period, and used a strong second quarter to post an 8-3 halftime lead. the Pirates caught fire in the third, outscoring the Brahmas 7-1 for a commanding edge, riding the wave of momentum to the 17-5 victory.
In addition to Loya's scoring, Melissa Robles also had three goals to go along with a pair of assists and two steals. Cheyanne Irigoyen, raquel Rodriguez, Christina Tellez and Brittany McWaid all scored two goals while Jessica Gean, Danielle Pfeifer and Reginae Maturino also found the back of the net. Tellez had three steals defensively and Maturino handed out five assists. Brittany Remo recorded five saves in the cage.
The Pirates will close out the regular season on Friday Oct. 31 at the Pasadena Mini Tournament with contests against the hosts Lancers and East Los Angeles. The Pirates will take the No. 3 seed into the WSC Tournament on Friday and Saturday Nov. 7 and 8 at Citrus College.