The Ventura College men's water polo team (12-11) will enter the WSC Championships as the No. 3 seed and will also face Los Angeles Valley in Friday's semifinals at 1:45 p.m.

"We're the No. 3 seed hoping to move up," said Ventura coach Mark Schmidt. "We're in a position to think we can compete with Valley if we can put together a full game."

Ventura lost at Valley, 11-6, on Oct. 12 and continued a string of bad luck this month when it lost freshman Cole Baratte to a shoulder injury.

"To continue our unbroken string of good luck," said Schmidt, sarcastically.

But the Pirates do still have freshman Zach Graper, who leads the WSC with 87 goals, and can keep itself in postseason contention with a win either Friday or in Saturday's consolation.