2021 Ventura College Women's Water Polo Team News
Ventura College student athletes excelled once again in the classroom in 2021-22, achieving an overall 3.26 grade point average in the fall and following that up with a solid 3.19 overall GPA in the spring. A total of 123 Pirates earned Dean's List honors in the fall of 2021 with a 3.5 GPA or better while taking in 12 or more units of study, with 51 student athletes recording a perfect 4.0 GPA. In the spring, 112 VC student athletes were featured on the Dean's List with 41 posting perfect GPA's.
Ventura College women's water polo head coach Linda Wright has been awarded the Doc Hunkler Distinguished Coaching Award by USA Water Polo for the Coastal California Zone. The fourth-year head coach, who has been with VC water polo for seven years, was named the zone winner of the award, and a finalist for the national award in a press release by USA Water Polo earlier this month. Wright led Ventura to a 20-7 overall record in 2021, the fourth 20-win season in program history.
VC water polo players Lauren Mora, Fiona Watkins and Anna Lowe have all earned state and regional post season awards as given by the state women's water polo coaches association. Mora earned CCCAA All-American honors as well as first team All-SoCal distinction while Watkins was also named a CCCAA All-American with second team All-SoCal honors. Lowe received second team All-SoCal accolades following one of the most successful seasons in program history.
The Ventura College women's water polo has had four team members named first-team All-Western State Conference as voted by the conference coaches last month. VC sophomore Lauren Mora and freshmen Fiona Watkins, Megan Findlay and Anna Lowe all earned the first-team nod for the 2021 season, a year in which the Pirates finished a strong second in the WSC race and posted 20 wins for just the fourth time in program history.
The VC women's water polo team put up a great fight Friday afternoon, but ultimately fell in the Southern California Regional Playoffs quarterfinal round. The No. 5-seeded Pirates were within one goal, 54-, at halftime before No. 4 Long Beach pulled away in the third quarter. Megan Findlay led Ventura (20-7) with four goals while Lauren Mora scored twice. Fiona Watkins had a goal with five steals and Katie Falls recorded eight saves in goal.
In a defensive battle, the Pirates' women's water polo team defeated Mt. San Antonio 9-5 to advance in the Southern California Regional Playoffs Thursday in Chula Vista. Anna Lowe scored three goals with an assist to lead VC (20-6) while Lauren Mora scored twice with an assist, three steals and a pair of drawn ejections. Katie Falls turned back 11 Mt. SAC shots in goal as No. 5-seeded Ventura moves on to face No. 4 Long Beach on Friday Nov. 12 at 4:45 pm.
The Ventura College women's water polo team is returning to the post-season! The Pirates (18-6) were seeded No. 5 in the 12-team Southern California Regional Playoffs that begin Thursday at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. VC will take on No. 12 Mt. San Antonio (12-17) in the regional quarterfinals at 1:45 pm on day one of the tournament.
It just wasn't their day. Missing a key starter, the VC women's water polo team had a difficult time getting anything going, falling in the Western State Conference title game 15-6 to Santa Barbara. Lauren Mora led the No. 7-ranked Pirates with four goals and three drawn ejections while Fiona Watkins had a score with three assists and four steals against the No. 2-ranked Vaqueros.
The VC women's water polo team turned a 2-1 deficit Citrus midway through the first quarter into a 12-3 advantage midway through the final period Friday in the Western State Conference semifinals in Glendora, advancing to the conference championship game on Saturday. Lauren Mora had four goals and three assists while Katie Falls recorded 10 saves in the cage to move the Pirates forward in the bracket. Ventura will get a rematch with Santa Barbara, who defeated VC 10-9 on Sept. 29, in the final.
With the fall seasons in full swing, and basketball getting ready to begin, the Ventura College Athletic Department would like to remind spectators about Covid policies and procedures if you are going to come support the Pirates in person. Please use the following guide when attending VC home athletics events.
The VC women's water polo team split its final two games at the Battle at the Beach Tournament Saturday at Cerritos. The No. 9-ranked Pirates fell to No. 3 Fullerton 18-10 in the morning before defeating the No. 10-ranked hosts 15-14 in a game that came down to the final possession. Fiona Watkins led VC (18-5, 4-1) with nine goals in the two contests while Katie Falls anchored the defense in goal with 16 saves, six steals and three assists.
The Ventura College women's water polo team continued to shine with two more victories Friday at the Battle at the Beach at Cerritos College. The Pirates defeated Golden West 17-8 in the first game of the day before beating Rio Hondo 20-8 in the nightcap. Anna Lowe scored eight goals in the two games while Megan Findlay netted seven. Lauren Mora found the inside of the cage six times on the day Friday for Ventura (17-4, 4-1), the No. 9-ranked team in the state.
The VC women's water polo team continued to shine on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Citrus 15-7 in the Pirates' final home appearance of the year. Lauren Mora had four goals, four assists and three steals and Megan Findlay scored four times with two assists and two steals in the triumph. Katie Falls recorded nine saves in the cage as Ventura locked up the No. 2-seed in the upcoming Western State Conference Tournament.
The VC women's water polo team had a great effort Saturday in Thousand Oaks, pushing 2021 SCIAC champion Cal Lutheran before falling 15-9 to the Regals. Fiona Watkins scored four goals with two assists and two steals against the NCAA Division III team and Lauren Mora had three scores to lead the Pirates (14-4, 3-1). Katie Falls recorded eight saves in the cage with the four-year school.
In a game in which all 13 field players scored for the Pirates' women's water polo team,. VC ran away from visiting LA Pierce 19-5 Friday afternoon at the Ventura Aquatic Center. Megan Findlay had four goals in leading the rout over the Brahmas, and Emmie Johnston, Lauren Pierce and Bryanna Soto each scored twice. Katie Falls had nine saves in goal for Ventura (14-3, 3-1).
The VC women's water polo team scored four goals in the first two-plus minutes of the opening period en route to an 18-4 runaway victory over host Santa Monica on Wednesday in Western State Conference play. Natalia Rodriguez and Lauren Pierce each netted three goals to pace VC (13-3, 2-1) and Fiona Watkins scored twice with four assists and four steals. Sierra Cameron had three assists and a pair of thefts in the Pirate win.
