The Pirates' women's water polo team easily topped Santa Monica 15-2 in their Western State Conference opener Wednesday. Kelsee Espitia led a balanced attack with four goals and three assists while Ella Montano, Stevie Sturges and Devin Varela all netted two scores each. Mikela De Aguiar scored a goal with three assists and a steal and Milla Malesich scored once with six steals defensively.
The Pirates (9-5, 1-0) were never threatened, racing to an 8-0 lead after one quarter of play. Espitia assisted goals by Sturges and De Aguiar to open the game before Varela, Espitia and AnnMarie Patterson found the inside of the cage for a 5-0 lead just past the mid point of the stanza.
The Pirates continued to roll through the rest of the game, outscoring the Corsairs 2-0 and 3-0 in the second and third periods, respectively.
Ventura played well as a team with 15 assists on 15 goals. Izabel Magana, Montano, Kayla Foster and Malesich all dropped a pair of dimes each for VC.
VC next hosts Cuesta on Wednesday Oct. 9 before hosting the Annual Ventura Tournament on Friday and Saturday Oct. 11 and 12.