Cuesta knocks No. 3-ranked Ventura College men's water polo from Southern California regional playoffs with a 12-11 overtime win.

Ventura had beaten Cuesta in the teams four previous meetings this year, but were without three key players.

It led 4-2 after one and 7-5 after three.

The Ventura College men's water polo team will open the Southern California regional playoffs Friday against a familiar foe.

The No. 3-seeded Pirates (19-4) will face conference rival Cuesta for the fifth time this season in the regional quarterfinals at Pasadena City College.

"We went over the game plan today," said Ventura coach Mark Schmidt Wednesday. "At least we don't need to replan. We pretty much know what we're supposed to do."

Postseason play is supposed to be about unfamiliar teams sizing up each other. But Schmidt isn't too bothered about facing a conference rival in the postseason considering Ventura is 3-1 against the Cougars this season, including a 13-6 win in Saturday's Western State Conference title game.

"They don't have anything in the seeding process to account for conferences," said Schmidt.

Ventura will be without drivers Michael Crowley and Michael Craft, who were ejected from Saturday's WSC title game. Crowley leads the team in steals (28) and ranks second in goals (56) and assists (23).

"He's a key player," said Schmidt of Crowley . "The game against Cuesta, on paper, he only gave us one goal and one assist, but he makes the guys around him better.

"He's always a threat. But we've been missing guys at different points throughout the season. We have a bunch of guys who score."

Ventura may also be without driver Hayden Adler, who has been stricken by the flu this week. Schmidt said that all Ventura players were told to get tested for swine flu.

The Ventura College men's water polo team (19-4) is the No. 3 seed in the Southern California regional playoffs.

The Western State Conference champion Pirates, who lead the state in winning percentage, was unusually pitted against conference rival Cuesta, the No. 6 seed, in Friday's Southern California quarterfinals at Pasadena City College.

Ventura won three of the four meetings between the teams this year, winning 15-6 in the Citrus tournament, 12-8 in conference play and 13-6 in the WSC title game Saturday after falling 13-7 in Cuesta's tournament in September.

Both teams will be missing players that were ejected during Saturday's conference final.

The winner faces No. 2 Long Beach, No. 7 Orange Coast or No. 10 Saddleback in Saturday's SoCal semifinals at PCC.

Click the jump for the rest of the quarterfinal matchups.

Western State Conference standings through Monday, Nov. 9:

WSC VOLLEYBALL
NORTH WSC PCT. GF GA SEASON PCT.
Moorpark 7-0 1.000 21 2 17-1 .944
S Barbra 6-1 .857 19 4 17-2 .895
Ventura 3-4 .429 11 15 8-10 .444
Cuesta 3-4 .429 12 13 6-12 .333
Hancock 2-5 .286 6 16 6-10 .375
Oxnard 0-7 .000 2 21 5-9 .357

WSC MEN'S SOCCER
WSC POINTS SEASON
S Barbra 8-1-3 27 8-6-4
Canyons 8-3-1 25 11-6-1
Moorpark 7-4-1 22 9-6-2
Oxnard 6-3-3 21 10-5-4
LA Missn 6-3-3 21 9-7-3
Hancock 3-6-3 12 5-10-4
Glendale 2-9-1 7 4-13-2
Citrus 0-11-1 1 2-14-2

WSC WOMEN'S SOCCER
NORTH WSC PTS. SEASON
Moorpark 8-0-2 26 14-0-4
Ventura 6-1-1 19 13-3-1
S Barbra 4-2-2 14 9-3-6
Cuesta 3-4-1 10 4-10-3
Oxnard 2-8 6 3-14-1
Hancock 0-8 0 0-14

WSC MEN'S WATER POLO (FINAL)
STANDINGS WSC SEASON
Ventura (1) 4-0 19-4
Cuesta (2) 3-1 19-12
L.A. Valley (3) 1-3 10-16
Citrus (4) 2-2 14-15
Santa Monica (5) 0-4 1-21
WSC Championships: L.A. Valley 14, Santa Monica 10; Ventura 13, L.A. Valley 8; Cuesta 14, Citrus 7; L.A. Valley 10, Citrus 6 (3rd place); Ventura 13, Cuesta 6 (championship)

WSC WATER POLO (final)
TEAMS WSC SEASON
Ventura (1) 4-0 18-4
Citrus (2) 3-1 15-11
Cuesta (3) 2-2 12-19
Santa Monica (4) 1-3 7-18
L.A. Valley (5) 0-4 5-20
WSC Championships: Santa Monica 6, L.A. Valley 4; Ventura 16, Santa Monica 6; Citrus 10, Cuesta 6; Cuesta 19, Santa Monica 12 (3rd place); Ventura 7, Citrus 6 (championship)

VALLEY GLEN -- Spencer McGrath and Jonnie Pare scored four goals apiece and goalie Cody Womack made 14 blocks in a dominating performance as the Ventura College men's water polo team defended its Western State Conference championship with a 13-6 win over rival Cuesta Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles Valley College.

Ventura (19-4) scored the first three goals in opening a 11-1 lead on Pare's goal three minutes into the second half.

"We played our best game as a whole," said Ventura head coach Mark Schmidt. "We played very, very well. We took control of the game and kept it.

"I was really proud of the guys."

Hopeful of a Top 4 place, Ventura now awaits their Southern California regional playoff seeding Monday.

Although the Ventura men could be without starter Mike Crowley and key reserve Michael Craft for its first postseason game. Both were ejected, along with two Cuesta players, as the game unraveled in the second half in the face of Ventura's huge lead.

"I felt like the game was going to get physical and I asked (the officials) to keep control of it," said Schmidt. "But they lost it."

Cuesta had as little luck handling Ventura's counterattacking speed as it did beating Womack.

"Cody was a wall today," said McGrath.

"He was definitely today's MVP," said Pare. "He played huge."

A decisive few days for the fall season arrives this weekend.

Looking to defend their conference titles, the Ventura College men's and women's water polo teams will be the top seeds at this weekend's Western State Conference championships at Los Angeles Valley College.

The two teams went a combined 8-0 in WSC play. Both will face the winner of a preliminary march between host Valley and Santa Monica Friday.

The Ventura men (17-4), ranked No. 4 in the state, have won seven of its past eight games behind firepower like Spencer McGrath (52 goals, 20 assists), Mike Crowley (52 goals, 19 assists) and Tyler McClure (44 goals).

The Ventura women (16-4) have been led by the offense of sophomore Carly Clark, who has 91 goals, and the defense of sophomore Mary Dugan, who will defend high-scoring Citrus driver Meghan Turner should the two teams meet in Saturday's title game.

Turner has scored just one of her 72 goals in a pair of Ventura 13-8 wins over Citrus.

"We're pretty aware of what she can do," said Ventura coach Mary Giles. "We're really good defensively this year."

Two years after the Moorpark College women's soccer team ended cross-county rival Ventura's 10-year hole on the WSC North by clinching the title with a scoreless draw at the VC Sportsplex, the two teams will find themselves in the same place, in a similar situation Friday night at 5:30.

First-place Moorpark (13-0-3, 8-0-1) can clinch its second title in three years with a win or a draw. Second-place Ventura (13-3), 7-1) can top the table with a win.

"It's basically the same situation," said Ventura coach Steve Hoffman. "It's one of those games when you know you have to step up and do your thing.

"It's an interesting match. We know what we have to do. We have to go and try to win the game."

Moorpark earned its advantage with a 1-0 home win over Ventura on Oct. 13.

"I think we played pretty well the first time around, we just didn't finish in front of goal," said Hoffman. "We've got to deal with their speed and they defend awfully well."

The game features two of the high-scoring attackers in the state in Ventura's Jazmarae Strozier and Moorpark's Lindsey McClellan.

Strozier, the Buena High product whose father, Clint, played football for Moorpark, leads the state with 22 goals. Moorpark does not post its statistics.

"I think we're just going to play the best we can," said McClellan. "Hopefully it all works out."

The Moorpark College women's volleyball team (14-1, 6-0), ranked No. 4 in the state, can take a two-match lead in the WSC North if it extends its conference winning streak to 19 matches Tuesday at second-place Santa Barbara City (16-2, 5-1).

Five of the six local programs qualified for Saturday's Southern California cross-country championships at the familiar hilly course at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut.

Oxnard and Ventura college, which qualified both its men's and women's teams with solid finishes at last week's WSC Championships, is aiming for the Top 14 finishes that would mean a state meet berths.

"That would be really good," said Oxnard coach Gino Sharp. "It's difficult to just send one team."

Although like many local programs, the Pirates have been stricken by illness.

"It's a hard time of the year to keep everyone healthy, especially this year," said Ventura College coach Nancy Fredrickson. "It's gone through the entire team."

WSC Standings through Monday, Oct. 26:

WSC VOLLEYBALL
NORTH WSC PCT. GF GA SEASON PCT.
Moorpark 4-0 1.000 12 1 14-1 .933
Ventura 3-1 .750 9 6 8-7 .533
S Barbara 2-1 .667 7 3 13-2 .867
Cuesta 1-2 .333 5 6 4-10 .286
Hancock 1-3 .250 3 10 4-8 .333
Oxnard 0-4 .000 2 12 5-6 .455

SOUTH
Bakersfld 5-0 1.000 15 3 12-4 .750
Canyons 5-1 .833 16 4 12-6 .667
Glendale 4-1 .800 12 6 8-7 .533
Pierce 2-3 .400 8 10 6-12 .333
Citrus 2-3 .400 9 9 4-9 .308
S Monica 0-5 .000 2 15 2-10 .167
West L.A. 0-5 .000 0 15 0-9 .000

WSC MEN'S WATER POLO
WSC SEASON
Ventura 3-0 16-4
Cuesta 3-1 17-11
Citrus 1-2 12-13
LA Valley 1-2 8-14
S Monica 0-3 1-19

WSC WOMEN'S WATER POLO
WSC SEASON
Ventura 3-0 15-4
Citrus 2-1 13-10
Cuesta 2-2 11-17
Santa Monica 1-2 6-15
L.A. Valley 0-3 5-16

MEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
WSC POINTS SEASON
S. Barbara 6-0-2 20 6-5-3
Canyons 6-2 18 9-5
L.A. Mission 4-2-2 14 7-6-2
Oxnard 4-3-1 13 8-5-2
Moorpark 4-4 12 6-6-1
Glendale 2-5-1 7 4-9-2
Hancock 1-4-3 6 3-8-4
Citrus 0-7-1 1 2-10-2

WSC WOMEN'S SOCCER
NORTH WSC PTS. SEASON
Moorpark 5-0-1 16 9-0-2
Ventura 5-1 15 11-3
S Barbara 3-1-2 11 8-2-5
Cuesta 2-3-1 7 3-8-3
Oxnard 1-5 3 2-11-1
Hancock 0-6 0 0-10

SOUTH WSC PTS. SEASON
Pierce 8-0 24 12-1-1
Santa Monica 5-1-2 17 8-2-5
Bakersfield 4-2-2 14 7-4-2
Canyons 3-2-3 12 5-6-4
L.A. Valley 4-4 12 6-7-1
Glendale 2-4-2 8 4-6-4
Citrus 1-6-1 4 3-9-3
L.A. Mission 0-8 0 2-11-1

Key returners like Mike Crowley, Hayden Adler and Daniel Olivier.

Redshirt sophomores like Tyler McClure, who has returned after a year away, and true freshmen like Spencer McGrath.

Four-year transfers like Jonnie Pare, who arrived after playing a year for the University of the Pacific.

Celebrating diversity has the Ventura College men's water polo team thriving.
"It's kind of a diverse group," said Ventura coach Mark Schmidt.

The Pirates (13-3), ranked No. 6 in the state, improved to 3-0 in Western State Conference play Wednesday with a 13-7 win at Citrus.

Outside threat Crowley, a Pacifica High product, leads the team with 36 goals and 10 assists. McGrath, a recent Ventura High graduate, has 32 goals and 14 assists. McClure (Royal) and Adler (Ventura) have given the Pirates a combined 57 goals from hole set. Pare (Oaks Christian) and Oliver (Buena), the left-hander, have 21 and 14 goals, respectively.

The 24 players on the roster come from 12 different high schools, including 10 from the county plus Carpenteria.

Ventura has won 11 of last 12 games, the lone loss being a 8-7 loss to No. 3 Long Beach City.

"We're hoping to repeat in conference," said Schmidt. "That's the No. 1 goal."

But Ventura has also shown that it can compete on the state level. The Pirates held third quarter leads on the top two teams in Southern California, No. 2 Golden West and No. 3 Long Beach, before falling 13-9 on Sept. 18 and 8-7 Oct. 10, respectively.

"We really played well, that's what the guys have taken confidence from," said Schmidt. "We just made a couple of mistakes and it got away from us."

The Pirates hope to learn from past mistakes at this weekend's Golden West tournament, where they open up Saturday with a rematch with the powerhouse hosts.

The Ventura College men's water polo team (7-2) is ranked No. 7 in this week's state coaches poll.

Click the jump for the full poll.

Through Monday, Oct. 6:

TEAM OVR WSC
Ventura 7-2 1-0
Cuesta 6-6 1-0
Citrus 4-6 0-0
L.A. Valley 4-7 0-1
Santa Monica 0-12 0-1

The Ventura College water polo teams opened Western State Conference play Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Los Angeles Valley.

Spencer McGrath scored five goals, Jonnie Pare had three goals and two assists and Hayden Adler and Tyler McClure each added two goals as the VC men's water polo team won, 15-10.

Goalie Cody Womack had six blocks for Ventura (6-2, 1-0). L.A. Valley is 4-6 and 0-1.

Carly Clark scored five goals and Kelsey Michon, Rachel Davis, Mary Dugan, Kayleigh Jeffries, Emily Allen and Courtney Thomas also scored as the VC women won, 11-4.

Goalie Marissa Herold had nine saves for Ventura (3-2, 1-0).

The Ventura College men's water polo team beat Riverside, 11-9, and Cuesta, 15-10, to finish fourth at the Cuesta tournament in San Luis Obispo Saturday.

Tyler McClure had five goals and four steals against Riverside. Hayden Adler had three goals and two steals. Spencer McGrath added one goal and four steals.

Against Cuesta, Mike Crowley had six goals. Jonnie Pare had two goals and one assist. McGrath had three goals, two assists and two steals. Cody Womack had six saves in two games.

The No. 7 Ventura College men's water polo team fell 15-10 to No. 3 Long Beach City Saturday morning in the Southern California semifinals.

The Pirates will play Grossmont at 1:30 p.m. in the third-place game for a state tournament berth.

Jeremy Allen scored four goals as the No. 7 Ventura College men's water polo team upset No. 2 seed Orange Coast Friday afternoon in Huntington Beach.

The Pirates will play Long Beach City Saturday morning at 9:45 in the Southern California semifinals. They need to finish in third place to reach the state tournament.

Both Ventura College water polo teams play Southern California regional playoff games today.

The No. 7 seed VC men (16-8), who defeated Riverside (16-15) 13-11 Wednesday, will face No. 2 Orange Coast (17-7) in Huntington Beach.

Sophomore Jeremy Allen leads the Pirates with 68 goals, followed by Mike Crowley (39), Hayden Adler (31) and Mike Lee (31).

The No. 6 seed VC women (18-9) will play No. 3 Long Beach City (23-6), which handed the Pirates their worst loss of the season, 11-5, Oct. 17.

"That was a bad day for us," said Ventura coach Mary Giles.

Sophomore Bonny Bordwell, who also stars on the VC swimming and track teams, leads the team with 45 goals.

"We've got nothing to lose," said Bordwell. "Beating Citrus (for the WSC title) was a nerve-racking game."

The WSC champion Ventura College men's water polo team will open the Southern California regional playoffs Wednesday afternoon at noon in Huntington Beach. The Pirates, seeded No. 7, will play No. 10 Orange Coast at Golden West College.

The winner will play No. 2 Orange Coast Friday.

"It was what I expected," said coach Mark Schmidt. "I had us down at No. 7... It worked out the way I thought."

The recipient of a first-round bye, the WSC champion Ventura College women's water polo team will open the Southern California regional playoffs Friday afternoon in Huntington Beach. The Pirates, seeded No. 6, will play No. 3 Long Beach City at Golden West College.

"I'm happy we don't have to play Wednesday," said coach Mary Giles. "Long Beach is a tough matchup."

Community College water polo

WSC Championships: VC men, women capture WSC titles by Joe Curley

Community College football

Moorpark 51, Glendale 44 (2OT): Moorpark needs double overtime to break skid by Loren Ledin in Moorpark

Hancock 30, Ventura 12: Hancock defeats VC by Joe Curley and AHC's Playoff Run by Kenny Cress, Santa Maria Times.

NCAA Division III football

Cal Lutheran 37, La Verne 3: CLU bounces back by Rhiannon Potkey in Thousand Oaks.

NCAA Division I football

USC 17, Cal 3: USC defense continues to dominate by Joe Curley in Los Angeles

Oregon State 34, UCLA 6: Bruins lacking in mainpower by Mark Saxon, Orange County Register, in Pasadena.

Community College men's basketball

Bakersfield 102, Ventura 95: VC falls in tourney semifinals by Jeffrey Dransfeldt in Ventura.

Locals in college notebook

Pedersen making strides on deep NAU team by Rhiannon Potkey

The Ventura College water polo programs made history today by winning WSC titles in the same year for the first time in school history.

The VC men had previous triumphed in 1988 and 2003.

The VC women had previously been crowned in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005.

Both teams will find out their postseason seeding Sunday afternoon.

Jeremy Allen scored five goals and Mike Lee and Tyler Pool each added two goals and two steals as the top-seeded Ventura College men's water polo team won its second WSC championship in 20 years with a 10-5 win over conference-power Cuesta.

Down 3-1 after the first quarter and without second leading-scorer Mike Crowley for the second half, the VC men (15-8, 6-0) responded to complete the program's first unbeaten WSC season.

"We got down... but we fought back," said Allen. "Everyone kept their head and continued to push through it."

The top-seed Ventura College men's water polo team defeated Citrus College 15-9 in the semifinals of the Western State Conference tournament Friday in Van Nuys.

The Pirates will face rival Cuesta Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles Valley College for the WSC title.

Freshmen Hayden Adler and Mike Crowley led the Pirates with four goals apiece.