Beach VB, Men's Tennis Named State Scholar Teams

See 3C2A Release

The 2023 Ventura College beach volleyball and men's tennis teams have been named as California Community College Athletic Association State Scholar teams in a release by the 3C2A earlier this week. Beach volleyball earned its first state academic award while the men's tennis team earned its fourth state award. The awards are the VC Athletic Department's 42nd and 43rd State Scholar Team awards since the program's inception in 1997-98. Ventura has been awarded at least one state team academic award in each of the past 23 non-covid academic years.

Beach volleyball claimed the state's top academic award with a 3.54 team grade point average in the spring semester of 2023. The team had eight student athletes honored on the Dean's List with a 3.5 or higher GPA including Averi Carter, Ashley Johnson, Ana Medrano, Gabby Raines, Autumn Rojelio, Alba Ramanos Gracia, Olivia Sletten and Grace Williams.

On the courts, the Pirates reached unprecedented heights for the 8-year-old program, claiming the team's third Western State Conference championship and coming within a single point of winning the 3C2A State Championship, finishing as the state runner-up. Johnson and Sletten advanced to the State Elite Eight in pairs competition and Kayla Murdoch and Rojelio finished in the State Final Four. The Pirates' No. 1 pair of Murdoch and Rojelio along with the Nos. 2 and 3 duos of Johnson and Sletten, and Carter and Katey Mulville were all recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association with their Top Flight Awards.

Men's tennis claimed its fourth State Scholar Team honor with a 3.53 team GPA. They have previously won the award in 2013, 2015 and 2019. Lucas Abreau, Zachary Anderson, Eliah DiMarco, Tiago Galoppo, Jared Gillespie, Philemon Jabin, Valentino Oggero, Robinson Pelluault, Santino Serralonga, Jinsei Tajima, Julian Tellez and Yuta Yoshikawa all earned places on the Dean's List in the spring semester of 2023.

On the court, the Pirates claimed their second straight WSC crown, their 18th in the past 21 seasons. They advanced to the Southern California Regional Finals, their 11th appearance in the State Final Four since 2002. Tajima and Jabin won the WSC title and finished as the 3C2A State runners-up at The Ojai Tournament  in doubles while Serralonga won the WSC singles championship over Tajima. Serralonga and Tajima each advanced to the quarterfinal round in singles at The Ojai.

The Scholar Team Award is the highest academic team achievement given annually by the 3C2A. All team members must have excelled academically with the team achieving a total GPA of 3.0 or higher. The team should also have demonstrated better than average accomplishments in intercollegiate athletic competition.

Since the inception of the State Scholar Team program, Ventura College leads all schools across the state in recognition for academic excellence. The Pirates have now won 43 State Scholar Team Awards, with WSC rival Cuesta second at 37. Moorpark is third with 34 while Orange Coast has won 32 State Scholar Team awards. Santa Barbara and Saddleback have 26 and 23, respectively.