The VC women's water polo team had their season come to an end thursday in the first round of the 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Pirates dropped an 11-9 decision to conference rival Cuesta in the tournament at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. AnnMarie Patterson scored five goals to lead VC (18-13) and Ava Carey totaled eight saves in the cage.
After the Cougars scored first, the Pirates responded with three straight goals in the opening quarter. Patterson sandwiched a pair of scores around a goal by Stevie Sturges and VC led 3-1 at the end of the period.
The teams then traded scores as Patterson's goal at the 3:09 mark of the second quarter answered a Cuesta goal on the previous possession. Patterson scored again with 1:21 remaining in the half before Cuesta tied the score at 5-5 before intermission.
The Pirates seemed to take control of the game in the third quarter as Caitlyn Hilgenberg, Kelsee Espitia, Milla Malesich and Patterson all scored goals to put Ventura ahead 9-6 with 2:07 on the clock. At that point Cuesta started a comeback, however, with three unanswered goals before the end of the stanza, and two more early in the fourth quarter to set the final margin.
Ella Montano totaled two assists and two steals in the game while Espitia had one goal, one assist and two thefts. Sturges added another helper and two steals to the Pirate effort.
The Pirates end the season with an overall record of 18-13.