The Pirate volleyball team ended the 2023 regular season with a thrilling five-set victory at Santa Monica Tuesday in a Western State Conference crossover contest. VC claimed the 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-9 win to finish the year at 19-3 overall after sharing their third straight WSC North Division title. Kylie Ibbotson had a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs and Kayla Murdoch recorded 24 winners with a dozen digs. Ashley Johnson handed out 39 assists and Autumn Rojelio posted 31 digs in the triumph.
After a five-set win over the Corsairs on September 15, Ventura expected a tough match in the return game matching teams from each of the WSC's two divisions in a crossover match to close the regular season.
VC took charge early taking the first set 25-21 before SMC came back to take the second by the same score. The Pirates maintained the upper hand in the third set prevailing 25-20 before Santa Monica forced the deciding set 25-18 in the fourth. Ventura finally dispatched of the Corsairs 15-9 in the final set.
Talia Behrens had 10 kills from her middle position and also assisted with seven blocks. Brianna Morrison hit seven winners at the net. Rojelio added eight assists and five service aces to her defensive stats and Liz Schalde had seven helpers. Makena Schaumloeffel recorded 10 digs defensively.
Ventura now awaits its playoff seeding, which will likely result in a home post-season match on Tuesday Nov. 21 at 6:00 pm.