Ventura Takes 3 of 4 at Battle at the Beach

The VC women's water polo team won three of four games Friday and Saturday at the Battle at the Beach Tournament at Cypress College. Abigail Humphry and Parker Pratt led the Pirates offensively with 13 goals each in the four games. Pratt also doubled up spending four quarters in the cage amassing 14 saves. Bella Bruno recorded 26 saves in goal over the four games.

In the tournament opener, The Pirates dropped a narrow 12-9 decision to host Cypress.  The game was tied at 3-3 after one quarter before the Chargers held an 8-6 edge at intermission. The Pirates closed the gap to a single goal, 9-8 after three questers before Cypress held on for the victory. 

Humphry led the effort with three goals while Parker Pratt scored twice with five steals defensively. Ami Cruz passed out three assists while Audrey Hernandez and Avery Monson each dropped a pair of dimes. Bella Bruno had seven saves in goal.

The second game Friday was all Ventura as the Pirates rallied for a 22-2 rout of Rio Hondo. The Pirates scored the first nine goals of the game before the Roadrunners finally found the inside of the cage late in the second stanza. VC held an 11-1 margin at halftime before holding a 14-1 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Humphry again led the offense with five goals scored while Pratt scored three times with two assists in the field and Alex Williams netted three scores. Hernandez found the inside of the cage once and handed out four assists while Bruno scored twice with two assists in the field. Allie Costa-Schmitt also scored twice. Pratt and Bruno shared time in the cage recording six and four saves, respectively.  

The Pirates were in for a fight in their first game Saturday against Chaffey. The Panthers took a 4-2 lead after eight minutes of play, but VC came back to tie the score at 5-5 by halftime. Ventura scored twice in the third period while holding Chaffey scoreless, and held off the Panthers in the final stanza for the 9-6 win.

Humphry was tops offensively with three goals and five drawn ejections. Stevie Sturges netted a pair of scores  with an assist and four steals and Pratt contributed two goals with two helpers. Monson grabbed four steals defensively and dropped a pair of dimes for VC scores. Pratt also excelled in the cage with eight saves in two quarters played.

Ventura closed the weekend with a strong performance in their 13-7 victory over Southwestern. The Pirates outscored the Jaguars 3-0 in the second quarter for a 6-2 lead at intermission and expanded the lead to 11-3 after three periods of play.

Pratt played the field for the whole game and totaled six goals with two assists and five steals while Humphry, Sturges and Williams all scored two goals each. Monson grabbed four thefts and Hernandez recorded three steals with two assists. Bruno turned back 13 Southwestern shots in the cage.

 Ventura will close the regular season on Saturday Nov. 1 against Saddleback and Los Angeles Valley at the Santa Barbara Mini.