Ventura Cruises with Sweep at Cuesta

The Pirate volleyball team took care of business on their longest trip of the conference season, sweeping past Cuesta in San Luis Obispo, 11, 16 and 13 on Wednesday. Kayla Murdoch returned after a brief injury respite to record 18 kills and Talia Behrens had nine winners at the net. Makena Schaumloeffel led the defense with 13 digs and had seven service aces while Autumn Rojelio had 11 digs. Brianna Morrison had seven blocks for VC (12-2, 2-1).

The state No. 10-ranked Pirates were not messing around as they won the first 10 points of the match. VC hist six aces in the initial set in taking it from the Cougars, 25-11.

Ventura went ahead of Cuesta 9-5 in the second set, then repeated the performance to hold an 18-10 margin. The Cougars rallied to close to within 21-15, but Ventura took the set, 25-16.

The two teams were tied 6-6 in the third set before the Pirates went on a 9-1 run to put the set and match on ice, eventually clinching the win 25-13.

Schaumloeffel was on fire with the serve, winning the point at an 82 percent clip. Behrens hit .600 and Murdoch hit .536, both solid nights offensively. Kylie Ibbotson totaled five kills with a .400 hitting percentage. Morrison was a wall at the net with seven blocks with no errors.

Ventura has the weekend off before returning to action on Wednesday Oct. 11, hosting No. 24 Santa Barbara. The match is set to begin at 6:00 pm at the Athletic Event Center.