The VC women's water polo team dropped a pair of close games Saturday to conclude the truWest Battle at the Beach in Long Beach. The Pirates' comeback bid came up short in the opener, a 7-6 loss to LA Valley, before they dropped a 10-7 decision to Palomar in the second match of the day. Sara McGuire had four goals and three steals while Kelsey Golden netted three scores with four assists and three thefts. Sabrina Cherfane also scored three times on the day for Ventura (11-13, 0-3).
Ventura 6, LA Valley 7
After two wins Friday, the Pirates advanced to the winner's pool to face conference foe LA Valley. The contest was closely fought throughout the first half with the Monarchs holding a slim 4-3 advantage at halftime. LAVC opened up a 7-3 margin with 1:53 remaining in the third period before the Pirates made a valiant comeback. Kayla Wallace scored with 10 seconds left in the period on an assist from Katia Flores to bring VC back to 7-4 at the quarter break. In the final period, Cherfane and McGuire both scored before the mid point, making the score 7-6 for Valley, but Ventura could not complete the comeback in the final four minutes.
McGuire had two goals with a steal and Cherfane also scored twice with one theft. Wallace had one goal, one assist and three steals while Golden scored once with one helper and two thefts. Flores recorded an assist, one drawn exclusion and three steals and Haley Hall had nine saves in the cage.
Ventura 7, Palomar 10
VC could not make it three in a row against the Comets this season, dropping the 10-7 decision. Palomar opened uyp a 6-3 lead at intermission, and maintained the advantage through the second half.
Golden led with two goals, three assists and a steal while McGuire had two scores and two thefts. Katie Heath also scored twice with an assist, one drawn exclusion, and three steals and Cherfane added one goal. Talullah Lund Sidi added two steals while Hall turned back 10 shots in goal.
The Pirates will conclude regular season Western State Conference play in the coming week, at LA Valley on Wednesday Oct. 25 before hosting Cuesta and LA Pierce on Friday Oct. 27 at 2:15 and 7:00 pm, respectively, at the Ventura Aquatic Center.