Ventura Drops Pair on Final Day at Saddleback

The VC men's water polo team dropped a pair of decisions Saturday to wrap up the Saddleback Invitational in Mission Viejo. The Pirates fell to Merced in the first game 14-7 before dropping a 12-7 final against Modesto. Alexis Nava once again led the Pirate offense with seven goals on the day and Matthew Ogonowski netted three scores. George Bonilla found the inside of the cage twice with two steals in the morning contest.

Ventura 7, Merced 14

In Ventura's first game o fthe day, they dropped a 14-7 decision to the Blue Devils. After a difficult first quarter, VC trailed 8-3 at halftime before being outscored 5-4 in the second half.

Nava netted four goals in the game with two drawn ejections, one assist, one steal and a field block. Bonilla scored twice with two steals and Joe Lowry added a pair of assists. Carlos Gonzalez also found the inside of the cage once. Sebastian Ayala had six saves in goal.

Ventura 7, Modesto 12

The first period did Ventura in once again, as they trailed 4-0 at the quarter break. They played the second stanza even before maintaining the margin in the second half.

Ogonowski and Nava each scored three goals with Lowry netting one. Lowry, Nava and Gonzalez all handed out two assists each and Nava had a great game defensively with eight steals and two field blocks. 

The Pirates return to the pool for a Western State Conference game Wednesday Oct. 5 at Citrus College.