Pirates Dig Victory Over Moorpark

In the biggest volleyball match in the Athletic Event Center in over a decade, the Pirates defeated No. 10-ranked Moorpark in four sets, 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-14 to take control of the Western State Conference North Division through one round of conference play. Faith Mackie keyed the victory from the back line with 23 digs, many in spectacular fashion, and a perfect 3.00 pass rating with 11 attempts on the night. As a team, VC (12-3, 4-0) controlled the serve, recording 15 services aces on the Raiders.

Ventura took control of the match early when Kasie Spencer served the Pirates to a 10-5 lead, prompting a Raider timeout. A [pair of kills from Janessa Simental and an ace from Brooklyn Wallet extended the lead to 15-9, and Morgan Gallagher had back-to-back kills to maintain the advantage at 19-10. The raiders pulled back to within 22-16, but Wallet put an end to the Moorpark push with another kill. Shantalle Ruiz put the finishing touches on the set with a winner off a MC block to give VC a 25-17 win.

A pair of aces by Spencer and a kill by Simental gave the Pirates an early 8-3 lead in the second set, and Gabby Boado and Raphaella Rosales each produced winners for a 14-5 VC margin. Moorpark came to within 14-9, to force a VC timeout, but he Pirates regained their form to win the set, 25-18.

The Raiders seized energy in the third set, moving out to leads of 5-2 and 9-3, but the Pirates kept up the heat. Simental had a pair of key winners to help close the gap, and when Kambria Dowling's dig led to a kill by Kelly Rodriguez, the Pirates had pulled to within 20-18. Gallagher had a big winner to keep up the pressure, but Moorpark survived to take the set, 25-22.

Dowling served the first six points of the fourth set, including three service aces, as Ventura took control with an 8-1 advantage. Madeline Bolish won a battle at the net to make the score 17-8. Ruiz finished the job for the Pirates with a kill to set the final 25-14 margin in the clinching set.

Gallagher led the Pirates at the net with 10 kills while Simental had eight winners. Rosales and Boado had 16 and 15 assists and 12 and 13 digs, respectively. Wallet served up three aces while Rosales and Rodriguez each had two. Bolish recorded three blocks in the middle.

The Pirates, who will soon surely move into the state rankings, lead the WSC North Division with a perfect 4-0 record after one round of contests. They will play two non-conference WSC crossover matches, Friday Oct. 19 at Glendale and Wednesday Oct. 24 at home with West Los Angeles, before resuming conference play.