The Ventura College women's water polo team gave visiting Santa Barbara all they wanted on Wednesday afternoon. The Pirate trailed the defending state champions 8-7 at the end of three quarters before falling to the Vaqueros 14-10 at the Ventura Aquatic Center in the Western State Conference match up. Cali Iadevaia netted four goals to lead VC (5-3, 1-1) while Raylynn Lipsky scored three times. Chloe Golden had three assists and Shayle Barrus had eight saves in goal.
VC got the jump early with a goal by Iadevaia on their opening possession. Santa Barbara came back with a pair of gaols in the remainder of the defensive first quarter to hold a slight edge after eight minutes.
The Vaqueros opened up a two-goal advantage in the second period, but a pair of scores from Iadevaia and goals by Golden and Lipsky had the Pirates tied at 5-5 at halftime.
Santa Barbara, the defending state champions, tried to pull away from Ventura early in the second half with a pair of goals, but Iadevaia netted a score at the 1:47 mark of the third period, and Lipsky scored with 1:03 on the clock to even the score at 7-7. SBCC scored on their final possession of the quarter to grab an 8-7 lead at the quarter break.
Ventura yielded a score to open the final stanza, but a goal by Golden narrowed the deficit back to a single score with 6:42 remaining. Santa Barbara scored the next four goals at that point, however, ending the Pirates' upset bid.
Iadevaia recorded three drawn exclusions in the game while Lipsky added three assists. Drew Reyes also had a pair of helpers for the Pirates.
Ventura next travels to the San Diego Tournament on Sept. 28-29. They play against San Diego Mesa and Palomar on Friday before battling Sierra and Cypress on Saturday. The Pirates return home on Oct. 5-6 for the annual Ventura Tournament.