The Ventura College women's water polo team split its first two games at the San Diego Women's Water Polo Classic Friday in games at San Diego Mesa College. The Pirates fell to Palomar 14-11 in the ir first contest of the day before trouncing East Los Angeles 16-4 in the nightcap. Paige Treloar-Ballard scored seven goals on the day with seven steals in the two matches for Ventura (9-5, 2-1). Valeria Ramirez hauled in 11 saves in goal to lead the defense.
Ventura 11, Palomar 14
The Pirates held a 4-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter of play, but were outscored by the Comets 6-2 in the second. Treloar-Ballard netted five scores with a drawn ejection and three steals to lead the way for VC while Ylva Ostlin found the back of the cage three times with three steals. Maeve Flynn scored twice with five steals and Kelsey Golden also had two goals with four thefts. Ramirez turned back five Palomar shots in goal.
Ventura 16, East Los Angeles 4
VC used a huge third quarter to turn a 5-2 halftime advantage into a runaway over the Huskies. Ventura outscored ELAC 7-1 after halftime to take control of the match. Christina Jimenez scored three goals to lead the balanced offense while Treloar-Ballard, Lauren Wiksell, Kalyn Pina and Brittany Camp all netted two scores each. Treloar-Ballard also had two assists and four steals and Golden had a goal and an assist with four steals. Sabrina Cherfane also had four steals and Ramirez recorded six saves.
The Pirates continue play in the tournament at Mesa College Saturday Oct. 1 at 11:00 am against Cypress. Their final match will be at 2:00 pm or 3:30 pm, depending on the result of the day's first contest.