On their opening day of the 2021 season, the VC men's water polo claimed a pair of victories at the Cesar Chavez Tournament at Southwestern College in Chula Vista before falling in their third game of the day. The Pirates bested San Diego Miramar 18-11 and Palomar 22-5 before posting a 16-13 setback against Grossmont. Sophomore transfer Andre Galvez had a spectacular debut for Ventura (2-1) with 18 goals, four assists, five steals and six field blocks to lead the way while Zane Herman scored nine goals in the three contests.
Ventura 18, San Diego Miramar 11
The Pirates jumped out to a 4-2 lead after one quarter of play on three Andre scores and a goal by Anthony Ibarra. VC led 9-5 over the Jets at halftime en route to the seven-goal victory.
Andre finished with five goals in the game while goalie Mariano Galvez turned back five Miramar shots. Alexis Nava and Benjamin Sweet each found the inside of the cage three times and Nava handed out four assists. Brayden Lauritzen scored twice with four steals in the defensive end of the pool. Janson Cunningham recorded one goal with an assist and three steals and Christian Scanlan had a score, one assist and a pair of thefts. Ibarra also scored once with a helper and two steals while Michael Andrews and Herman also scored in the opener.
Ventura 22, Palomar 5
VC jumped all over the Comets from the onset in the runaway victory. Herman netted six scores with five steals and Andre posted five goals, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Cunningham found the net three times with a steal. Lauritzen had two scores and five assists and Scanlan scored twice with four helpers. Joseph Lowry also provided two goals and Mariano had 10 saves in the cage.
Ventura 13, Grossmont 16
in the final game of the long day, Ventura fell behind early and was never able to catch the Griffins in the narrow defeat. Grossmont led 7-5 following a wild first quarter and settled in to lead 11-7 at intermission. The Pirates pulled to within one goal, 13-12, with 6:08 remaining in the game on a goal by Andre, but were not able to overcome the deficit.
Andre led the charge with eight goals, an assist, one steal and one block and Herman scored three times with a helper. Ibarra scored once with two assists and Cunningham had the other goal for the Pirates. Lauritzen handed out three assists while Scanlan had a pair of helpers. Mariano had 13 saves in the contest.
The Pirates continue the tournament in Chula Vista on Saturday Sept. 11 with games against Southwestern and San Diego Mesa.