The Pirates' women's water polo team claimed a pair of victories Friday at the San Diego Women's Water Polo Classic at Miramar College. VC opened with an 11-7 win over Southwestern before closing the day with a 9-7 victory over Palomar. Kelsey Golden netted six goals in the two games with six assists and eight steals. Sabrina Cherfane, meanwhile, scored four times with three assists and a steal for VC (5-7).
Ventura 11, Southwestern 7
VC opened the day with a solid victory over the Jaguars. Both teams got off to a slow start as Southwestern held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. A goal by Cherfane in the first minute of the second period got the Pirates on the board. Two scores by Sara McGuire sandwiched around a goal by Golden in the final three minutes of the first half gave Ventura a 5-3 halftime advantage.
Goals by Golden and Cherfane augmented the Pirate lead to 7-3 midway through the third quarter, and the Pirates were able to maintain the advantage for the 11-7 win.
Cherfane scored four times in the match with three assists and a steal. Golden netted three scores with three helpers and five steals while McGuire had three goals and a theft. Kayla Wallace scored once with five steals and Katie Heath had an assist and a steal. Sophia Anorga recorded six saves in the goal.
Ventura 9, Palomar 7
The Pirates claimed victory in a hard-fought contest in their afternoon match against the Comets. After falling behind 1-0 early on, VC scored three unanswered goals, by Heath, Cherfane and Wallace, to take the upper hand. Ventura led 3-2 at the quarter break and 6-4 at halftime. Palomar closed to within 7-6 at the end of the third quarter, but two goals by Heath to begin the final period reestablished control for the Pirates.
Heath had three goals, two assists and six steals to lead the way and Golden continued her solid play with three scores, three assists and three steals. McGuire produced a goal with four thefts and Wallace turned in a score with two helpers and six steals. Haley Hall had seven saves in the cage.
The Pirates will continue play at the San Diego Classic on Saturday Sept. 30 with a pair of games. They will then host Allan Hancock College on Wednesday Oct. 4 at the Ventura Aquatic Center.