Ventura Claims Third WSC Beach Volleyball Title
The Ventura College beach volleyball team clinched its third Western State Conference championship in the eight-year history of the program, including six with titles awarded, on Friday. The Pirates (19-2, 11-1) closed out the regular season in commanding fashion with two 5-0 sweeps over Moorpark and Santa Monica, respectively, in Santa Barbara. Bryce Swain and Kylie Ibbotson finished the regular season with a perfect 19-0 record, including a strong victory against Moorpark in the opener. | ORIGINAL RELEASE
To this point in the season, Ventura and Santa Barbara have battled it out for the top spot in the conference. However, prior to the Pirates' first match against Moorpark, the Raiders upset the Vaqueros to start the day, winning 3-2 and playing with confidence. VC was not phased by the upset, however, and swept the Raiders in straight sets at all five matches. The first win came at No. 5 with Swain and Ibbotson dominating in a 21-6, 21-7 blowout to finish their year perfectly. Not far behind, Ashley Johnson and Olivia Sletten won 21-10, 21-15 at the No. 2 spot. Once the remaining pairs closed out their matches, the Pirates celebrated their first outright WSC title in four years. After the festivities, there was more work to be done, however, as Ventura needed to finish with a win against Santa Monica to secure the best possible playoff position.
On the hottest day of the year to date, the sand was burning and the Pirates were on fire. Alba Romanos Gracia and Grace Williams kicked off the dual against Santa Monica with a win at No. 4, 21-17, 21-12. Then, Autumn Rojelio Moreno and Kayla Murdoch finished at the same time as Johnson and Sletten, and with the same scores. Both pairs won 21-10 and 21-11 over Santa Monica's 1's and 2's. Ana Medrano and Gabby Raines took over at No. 5, where they completed their season with a 21-15, 21-15 win. Finally, after dropping the first set to SMC's No. 3 pair, Averi Carter and Katey Mulville drew energy from the cheers of their teammates as they came back to win set two. Carter and Mulville continued the momentum with a 7-0 start in the 3rd set, and eventually took the match 15-21, 21-16, 15-8.
This has been a historical season for the Pirate beach volleyball program. They finished the regular season with a 19-2 record (19-1 against community college schools), and their pairs finished 91-14. The Pirates also finished 3-0 at home, 4-1 away, 12-1 at neutral sites, and were 15-0 in 5-0 matches. Their record was 4-1 in February, 9-1 in March, and 6-0 in April. Only one team (Rojelio and Murdoch) played at the same spot the entire season as a pair, and VC finished with the following results at all spots: No. 1's, 16-5; No. 2's, 19-2; No. 3's, 18-3; No. 4's, 18-3; and No. 5's, 20-1.
Next up, Ventura will host the WSC Pairs Championships on Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29 at the Ventura Harbor Cove Courts. The top six finishers from that tournament will move on to the Southern California Regionals. Following the tournament, the Pirates will likely host a SoCal Team Playoff on Tuesday, May 2.
