Men's Polo Clinches No. 2 Seed in WSC Tournament

The VC men's water polo team clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Western State Conference Tournament with a 14-8 victory over LA Valley Tuesday at the Ventura Aquatic Center. Jaeger Gonzales had four steals defensively and 12 saves in goal, including shutting the Monarchs out in the decisive third period. Andre Galvez scored seven goals offensively with a pair of assists and six drawn ejections and Zane Herman found the inside of the cage three times with two helpers and three steals.

Ventura took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Herman and Janson Cunningham. Galvez sandwiched a pair of scores around a goal by Alexis Nava and the Pirates led the Monarchs 5-2 at the end of the first period. 

Galvez found the inside of the cage two more times early in the second to make it 7-2 before LA Valley scored four of the final five goals of the quarter to pull to within 8-6 at halftime.

The VC defense clamped down after the break,shutting out the Monarchs in the third quarter. Galvez and Herman each scored twice over the first four minutes of the stanza and Cunningham netted a score late as the Pirates held a commanding 13-6 lead entering the final period.

Cunningham finished with a pair of scores and two assists while Christian Scanlan also handed out two helpers. Anthony Ibarra grabbed two steals defensively and drew three ejections.

Ventura travels to Costa Mesa for three games in the Orange Coast Mini on Saturday Oct. 23 before resting up for the WSC Tournament set to begin Friday Nov. 5 at Citrus College.