The Pirates' women's water polo team split a pair of Western State Conference matches Friday at the Ventura Aquatic Center to finish the regular season. VC fell to Cuesta 8-4 in the first contest of the day before defeating LA Pierce 14-4 in the nightcap under the lights. Katia Flores had an outstanding day with three goals, three assists, two drawn exclusions and eight steals in the two games for the Pirates (13-14, 2-4).
Ventura 4, Cuesta 14
VC got off to a slow start against the Cougars, Falling behind 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, and 6-1 at halftime. The Pirate defense held fast in the third, allowing just one goal, but they could not get untracked offensively until the final stanza. Trailing 7-1, Ventura scored three times in the first four minutes of the final period, goals by Kelsey Golden, Flores, and Sara McGuire, trimming the Cuesta advantage to 7-4 before the comeback stalled.
Flores had a single score with two assists, a drawn exclusion and four steals while Golden recorded one goal, one assist, one exclusion and three thefts. Sabrina Cherfane had one score and one steal and McGuire had one goal and one theft. Kayla Wallace grabbed three steals with three drawn exclusions and Adriana Bese handed out one assist with two steals. Talullah Lund Sidi also pulled in a pair of steals.
Ventura 14, LA Pierce 4
The Pirates ended the regular season with a runaway win over LA Pierce. VC led 7-1 after one quarter of play with five different players recording a goal. They continued the onslaught in the third period, ultimately posting the 10-goal victory.
Flores led the way once again with two goals, one assist, one exclusion and four steals. McGuire also scored twice with an assist and a steal while Lund Sidi also had two scores with a drawn exclusion and one theft. Samantha Ontiveros recorded two goals with one helper, one drawn exclusion and four steals. Wallace, Cherfane, Golden, and Bese all recorded single scores in the Pirate win.
Ventura will finish the regular season tied for fourth place in the seven-team WSC. After tiebreakers, there is a possibility of a home contest on Wednesday Nov. 1 in the first round of the conference tournament. The WSC semifinals and finals will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3 and 4 at Citrus College.