The VC women's water polo team had its season come to an end Thursday in the first round of the SoCal Regional Tournament in Cerritos. Despite a strong effort, the No. 10-seeded Pirates fell to No. 7 Cypress 16-13. Cali Iadevaia led Ventura (14-13) with seven goals and an assist while Drew Reyes netted three scores and two helpers in the game.
The Pirates jumped out to the early lead on Iadevaia's unassisted goal on VC's first possession of the game. The Charges came back to score five of the next six goals, however, to take a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ventura pulled to within two goals, 6-4 with scores by Iadevaia and Reyes, befoe Cypress pulled back to a 9-5 halftime advantage.
VC came storming back in the third period. Iadevaia scored twice, then Raylynn Lipsky answered a Cypress goal with her own score. Chloe Golden and Reyes then had back-to-back scores and the game was tied at 10-10 with 2:58 on the clock. Cypress was able to turn the tied, however, and netted the final two goals of the quarter for a 12-10 lead at the quarter break.
Cypress then reestablished control with the first two goals of the fourth quarter to finish VC's season with a 16-13 score.
Golden finished with two goals, one assist and two steals and Lipsky had a goal, three assists and a steal for Ventura. Shayne Naylor had a pair of helpers while Shaeleigh Russell, Talullah Lund Sidi, and Elizabeth Arlington all handed out an assist.
The Pirates finish the season on the plus-side of .500 at 14-13 and finished second in the Western State Conference.