The Pirates' women's water polo team lost its opener Saturday before winning its finale in the Mt. San Antonio College Tournament in Walnut. VC dropped a 20-11 decision to No 1-ranked Long Beach before defeating Palomar 11-7 in the nightcap. Ella Montano led the way with seven goals, six steals, four drawn exclusions and a pair of assists and AnnMarie Patterson netted five goals in the two games.
Ventura 11, Long Beach 20
The Pirates went down early against the Vikings and could not get close against the state's No. 1-ranked team.
Long Beach was ahead 5-0 before Patterson netted a score with 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Sarah Glassman, Montano and Kelsee Espitia all found the inside of the cage in the second period, but VC trailed 11-4 at intermission.
The Vikings expanded their lead in the third quarter, leading Ventura 16-8 entering the final eight minutes.
Montano totaled four scores in the game with two drawn exclusions and Patterson scored three goals with three drawn exclusions. Espitia contributed a pair of goals with three assists and two steals and Stevie Sturges dropped a couple of dimes.
Ventura 11, Palomar 7
VC salvaged the final game of the weekend with a four-goal victory over the Comets.
Milla Malesich and Izabel Magana each scored in the first eight minutes of play to bring the Pirates back from an early 2-0 deficit. Malesich. Espitia and Montano each scored late in the first half to give VC a 7-4 advantage at halftime.
Espitia and Patterson each scored early in the third stanza to expand the Pirates' lead to 9-4 and VC led 10-6 entering the last period.
Montano scored three times with five steals and two drawn exclusions to lead the way while Espitia had two goals, three assists and four thefts. Patterson and Malesich each netted two goals in the victory and JoJo Thayne totaled three assists and two steals. Ava Carey recorded eight saves in the cage.
Ventura next opens Western State Conference play on Wednesday Oct. 2 at Santa Monica.