The VC women's water polo team continued to shine on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Citrus 15-7 in the Pirates' final home appearance of the year. Lauren Mora had four goals, four assists and three steals and Megan Findlay scored four times with two assists and two steals in the triumph. Katie Falls recorded nine saves in the cage as Ventura (15-4, 4-1) locked up the No. 2-seed in the upcoming Western State Conference Tournament.
The Pirates trailed 2-1 midway through the first quarter when Fiona Watkins scored to even the score. Mora scored a minute later, and after Citrus evened the score at 3-3, Isabel Tenison netted a goal on the next possession to give the Pirates the lead for good.
Anna Lowe and Kiran Shah found the inside of the cage on back-to-back possessions to begin the second quarter, and goals by Findlay and Mora made it 8-6 for the Pirates at halftime.
The game remained close in the third as scores from Mora and Watkins were offset by a Citrus goal, but the Pirates were able to pull away in the final stanza. Ventura posted a 5-0 fourth quarter to set the final 15-7 margin.
Shah had two goals with a pair of assists and two steals for VC and Lowe also scored twice with two helpers. Watkins finished the contest with two goals and three thefts.
Ventura, ranked No. 9 in the state and No. 6 in Southern California, will travel to the Battle at the Beach Tournament at Cypress and Cerritos colleges Friday and Saturday Oct. 22 and 23 before beginning play in the WSC Tournament on Friday Nov. 5 at Citrus College in Glendora.