Click the jump for the complete box score for No. 2 Ventura's win over No. 1 Mount SAC Sunday afternoon in the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions final.

Condor Classic

Championship -- Ventura 99, No. 4 San Bernardino Valley 92 FINAL
Third-place -- Oxnard 89, Santa Barbara City 78 FINAL

VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions

Championship -- No. 2 Ventura 65, No. 1 Mount SAC 42 FINAL

Ned Mircetic is 537-84 (.865) in 19 years as the head coach of the Ventura College women's basketball team.

There is only one program who has a winning record over the Pirates in five or more contests during that span.

The Ventura College women's basketball team is 7-9 against Mount San Antonio College since 1990, including a 2-8 mark since the 1999-2000 season. Which means Mount SAC has given Mircetic more than 10 percent of his losses.

The Mounties have won the last six meetings since Ventura won the 2002 state title game between the two teams and are 6-0 in fall tournament finals since 2000, including 4-0 over Ventura in the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions.

The last 10 meetings:

Nov. 11, 2000: Mount SAC 64, Ventura 53 -- Chaffey tourney semis
Nov. 26, 2000: Mount SAC 55, Ventura 53 -- VC-Kiwanis TOC final
Dec. 1, 2001: Ventura 76, Mount SAC 70 (OT) -- VC-Kiwanis TOC third-place
March 16, 2002: Ventura 64, Mount SAC 59 -- State championship
Nov. 30, 2002: Mount SAC 102, Ventura 76 -- VC-Kiwanis TOC final
Dec. 7, 2002: Mount SAC 79, Ventura 71 -- Gilcrest Invite final, Visalia
Nov. 27, 2003: Mount SAC 73, Ventura 48 -- VC-Kiwanis TOC final
Nov. 24, 2007: Mount SAC 72, Ventura 61 -- VC-Kiwanis TOC final
Dec. 3, 2007: Mount SAC 65, Ventura 60 -- Gilcrest Invite final, Visalia
Dec. 8, 2007: Mount SAC 68, Ventura 56 -- Moorpark tourney semis

In a showdown of the top two teams in California, No. 1 Mount San Antonio College (8-0) and No. 2 Ventura College (7-0) meet Sunday at 4 p.m. in the final of the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions at the VC Athletic Event Center.

The Ventura College women's basketball team is 7-0 for the first time since 2002-03, which is incidentally the last time the Pirates defeated Mount SAC.

The Mounties have won the past five VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions and have won six straight games over the Pirates dating back to Nov. 30, 2002, when 16 points from Kelly Fay and 13 rebounds from Kristine Gleisberg led VC over Mount SAC in overtime, 76-70, in the TOC's third-place game.

The Pirates had just had their 41-game winning streak snapped by Orange Coast in the tournament's semifinals, 53-48.

Mount SAC, now the three-time defending state champions, as the Pirates were then, has won 45 straight games, which may just be a state record.

Ventura won 42 straight games from 1995-96, in the middle of its first two state championship, and 39 straight games from 1999-2000, when it produced the greatest season in California Community College basketball history, men or women, by going 38-0.

That streak was snapped in the first game of the 2000-01 season by Mount SAC in another No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown.

Ventura defeated Mount SAC in the 2002 state title game, 63-59, behind 16 points each from Monique Taylor and Monica Hang.

Rather than the two superstar tandem of Jazlyn Davis and Carmen Deal, who combined for 35.4 points and 15.1 rebounds per game last season, the No. 1-ranked Mount San Antonio College women's basketball team features a balanced team this season, including Oxnard High product Jordan Kuzma, who averaging 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

"They look excellent," said Ventura College coach Ned Mircetic. "People are saying that they're not as good as last year, but I don't see much drop off. What they don't have is the two superstars they had last year. They have much more balance this year. They have about eight or nine excellent players."

"They're a formidable opponent and will be formidable for everyone this year."

Three-time defending state champion Mount SAC has won 45 straight games, perhaps a state record. The Mounties survived No. 11 Canyons in Saturday's semifinals, 70-68.

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in California community college women's basketball may be tipping off Sunday at 4 p.m., but, of course, Ventura College coach Ned Mircetic is treating the game like any other:

"It's a big game, in once sense. In another, it's not."

"Mount SAC is always a big game, but so is Moorpark. I think we have to approach it as just that. A big game on our schedule, but every game is a big game on our schedule.

"If we give it too much attention, then we're setting ourselves up to fail.

"We're going to treat Mount SAC like we always do, with respect, and we're going to prepare to play the best we can."

"We're going to keep it in perspective as one of our 27 scheduled contests before the playoffs."

Final scores from the Southern California regional football semifinals:

No. 1 Canyons (12-0) 36, No. 4 El Camino (10-2) 27
No. 3 Mount San Antonio (11-1) 34, No. 2 Fullerton (10-2) 27 2OT

The two winners will play the Southern California championship game, Dec. 6, at College of the Canyons.

The Southern California champion will face the Northern champion, Butte (11-0), at Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, on Dec. 13.

Ventura College guard Dee Pinkard, who missed the end of his freshman campaign with a knee injury, seems to be turning a corner.

The Hueneme High graduate had a big game in the Ventura College men's basketball team's best game thus far this season, a 97-77 win over Santa Barbara City.

Pinkard had eight points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, one block and two steals.

"And he's going to get better each week as he gets in better shape from the injury," said coach Will Cowen.

One day after suffering its first loss of the season, the Moorpark College men's basketball team rebounded with a 84-65 win over Los Angeles Southwest in the consolation game of its Thanksgiving Classic.

Los Angeles Valley pulled off a nice upset win on Fullerton, 66-63, in the final.

According to Star teammate Ivan Yeo:

"Moorpark played a lot better this time around. Still committed a lot of turnovers (17), but they forced 19 themselves and were able to get points off them unlike last night.

"Southwest actually hung around for a while. They were within three at one point in the first half and were down by 10, but Moorpark went on a 16-0 run and held Southwest scoreless for almost eight minutes.

"(B.J.) Wortham was the man again with 18 points.

Championship game was more exciting. It came down to the final seconds. Valley won it 66-63. Valley's Hortsman hit the winner with 20 seconds left. Fullerton had one last chance to win it, but a 3-point attempt rimmed out. Valley split two FTs then steal the length-of-the-court pass to seal it. Hortsman was named MVP."

The Oxnard College men's basketball team fell to No. 4 San Bernardino Valley, 87-71, Saturday night in the second semifinal of the Condor Classic.

Bernard Burrell scored a team-high 23 points and Jonathan Johnson and Marc Pujund added 17 and 12 points, respectively.

That wraps up the pairings for Sunday.

Condor Classic
1 p.m. -- Consolation final: West Los Angeles vs. Los Angeles Harbor
3 p.m. -- Third-place game: Santa Barbara City at Oxnard
5 p.m. -- Championship: Ventura vs. No. 4 San Bernardino

VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions
12 p.m. -- Consolation final: Imperial Valley vs. Contra Costa
2 p.m. -- Third-place game: San Jose vs. No. 11 Canyons
4 p.m. -- Championship: No. 1 Mount SAC at No. 2 Ventura

Notre Dame brought its 167-year-old marching band to the Coliseum Saturday for the 80th USC-Notre Dame game and it was well worth it.

Best halftime performance by a marching band I've ever seen.

I will attempt to find something on youtube tonight or tomorrow. Hopefully there is some record of a truly breathtaking performance.

LOS ANGELES -- Before Brandon Walker's 41-yard field goal broke up the shutout in the fourth quarter of the USC football team's 38-3 win over Notre Dame Saturday night at the Coliseum, USC had scored 76 consecutive points over the Fighting Irish, dating back to 2006.

It wasn't his greatest performance, but Jimmy Clausen had the greatest quarterback of all-time waiting for him after Notre Dame lost 38-3 to USC Saturday night at the Coliseum.

Former Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana was waiting with Clausen's family.

Clausen then told the assembled reporters:

"I was frustrated a little bit," said Clausen. "They were getting pressure by rushing just four and it disrupted everything else.

"They are one of the top defenses in the country, if not the best. They have one of the fastest pass rushes we've faced."

He supported embattled head coach Charlie Weis.

"Coach Weis was not the reason we lost today. It was the guys on the field."

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis on his team's 38-3 loss to USC:

"Give credit to USC. They are a fine team. Their defense whipped us pretty good tonight until the end of the third quarter. They felt they could stop us with just their front seven and they were able to do it. Their pass rush was able to get to us without bringing heat."

"USC's defense led to our defense wearing down and giving up big plays. Some guys started to press and make big plays to change momentum and try to do too much and not do their jobs, starting to overcompensate.

(On QB Jimmy Clausen)

"He was under duress -- on fundamental pass plays. The problem was he was under duress with four rushers and that's what puts you in a bind."

(On his thoughts at the half)

"As we sat at the half down 24-0, the big issue was, the team played with emotion. But the emotion only carried so far until it gave out. I was concerned with how much the team had left. But they came out in the second half and fought their butts off."

(At where Notre Dame is compared to where it wants to be)

"USC is the team that you have to look at when you look at playing for championships. You see the discrepancy between them and us is wide. If you ever want to be a championship team, that's what you have to be. You have to beat a team like that."

The 80th game between USC and Notre Dame was marred by altercations in the tunnel before the game and an on-field fight in the fourth quarter that led to the ejections of USC's Malik Jackson and Notre Dame's Robert Hughes.

USC head coach Pete Carroll:
"It's never happened since we've been there. The control of having the teams come down was not well done.
"Their team had been held from passing. Blame it on anybody. It just shouldn't have happened."
"They weren't fighting. They were just jawing and getting all jacked up. That's not supposed to happen."
"They was some chippy stuff going on out there and that's not who we are."

USC linebacker Brian Cushing
"It really comes down to it being the heat of the rivalry. Those guys came across the country and didn't want to be disrespected and neither did we. It was really just a mix of emotions and everybody was hyped up. I'm not sure who started it, but neither backed off."

Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis
""I was on the 50-yard line, so I didn't see it... but there was some jawing in the tunnel... some pushing and shoving."

Pete Carroll improved to 27-0 in November and 7-1 against Notre Dame as USC coach.

"We're playing the best we've ever played," said Carroll of the USC defense. "I love the defense we had in '03... but no one has ever played this good. You can't score on them."

"It was a tremendous, consistent job of controlling the line of scrimmage. It just seemed like series after series nothing happened. We really didn't have to do much."

"What a terrific night for our seniors. Everyone in the program was dedicated throughout the week. We wanted this to be a great experience for the seniores tonight and it's great to go out as Pac-10 champs. The seniors have been a huge part of our success over the past few years. With guys like Cush, Rey, Kaluka, Fili, Moore, Clay, we're going to miss all those guys. They've give so much to this program, and I'm glad they've been able to receive so much as well.

"We're not done yet, though. We get one more chance to go across town. I couldn't be more proud of all these guys, of what they've accomplished, of playing with purpose, and by the way, how about Joe? What a great run tonight. I loved it."

"When played like we know how," said senior defensive end Clay Matthews, an Agoura High product. "When we do that, we can't be beat."

"Everything came together," said senior defensive back Josh Pinkard, a Hueneme High product. "We're just doing things right."

Freshmen Chanelle Brennan and Erika Ward had 17 points apiece as the Ventura College women's basketball team routed San Jose, 80-41, in the semifinals of the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions Saturday night at the VC Athletic Event Center.

Ventura (7-0) had five players in double figures. A 25-0 run midway through the first half put the Pirates ahead 38-16, before leading 45-20 at the half.

The win sets up a No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown with three-time defending champion Mount San Antonio College Sunday at 4 p.m. The Mounties have won this tournament five straight years.

Brandon Walker's 41-yard field goal gets Notre Dame on the board with 11:45 to play.

USC was less than 12 minutes away from shutting out Notre Dame in consecutive seasons for the first time in 75 years.

The Trojans had previously shut out the Irish once in 45 years.

Notre Dame didn't gain a first down until James Aldridge's 15-yard run on the final play of the third quarter.

The Irish had gained 23 yards on the previous 39 plays from scrimmage. Aldridge then followed with 40 yards over four straight runs.

Perhaps keeping an opponent from gaining a first down is the football equivalent of pitching a perfect game.

Both Notre Dame and USC entered the 80th revival of their long-running rivalry with 223 first downs this season.

Late in the third quarter, the Irish, who trail 31-0, have yet to an add another to that figure.

Notre Dame has 17 yards and no first downs on 23 offensive plays with 5 minutes to play in the third quarter.

Down 24-0 in the third quarter at USC, Notre Dame is on its way to losing for the 14th time in its last 15 meetings against opposition ranked in the Top 5.

Five of those losses were to the Trojans.

With Oregon State trailing 44-24 in the third quarter of the Civil War, No. 5 USC seems destined for yet another Rose Bowl trip, this time against Penn State.

USC allowed 9 yards and no first downs in taking a 24-0 halftime lead over Notre Dame.

At the Condor Classic at Oxnard College

Ventura 97, Santa Barbara City 77 FINAL

Ventura moves on to Saturday's final at 5 p.m. against either No. 4 San Bernardino Valley or county-rival Oxnard.

At the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions

No. 1 Mount San Antonio 70, No. 11 Canyons 68 FINAL

The five-time defending tournament champion, Mount SAC advances to Saturday's final at 4 p.m.

The USC football team took a 14-0 lead on Notre Dame on Joe McKnight's longest run of the season.

The 55-yard touchdown run puts the Trojans up two touchdowns with nine minutes left in the first half.

The score followed Jimmy Clausen's second interception of the game, which was tipped by Rey Maualuga and snagged by Kaluka Maiava.

Stafon Johnson's 2-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the first quarter is the first touchdown Notre Dame has allowed in the first quarter since Sept. 22.

The run completed a 12-play, 79-yard USC drive that lasted 7:11.

At the Condor Classic at Oxnard College

Ventura 48, Santa Barbara City 32 HALF

At the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions

No. 1 Mount San Antonio 32, No. 11 Canyons 27 HALF

LOS ANGELES -- Two of the first five plays from scrimmage are interceptions as Cary Harris leaps to intercept Jimmy Clausen's third down pass and, two plays later, Robert Butler jumped all over a slant route on Mark Sanchez's first pass of the game.

Hueneme High product Josh Pinkard, Agoura High product Clay Matthews and former St. Bonaventure High student Rey Maualuga were three of the USC football team's seniors who ran out out of the Coliseum tunnel and onto the field for the final time this evening on Senior Day.

One day after suffering its first loss of the season, the Moorpark College men's basketball team rebounded with a 84-65 win over Los Angeles Southwest in the consolation game of its Thanksgiving Classic.

Other early scores from the holiday tournaments.

Condor Classic consolation semifinals

West Los Angeles 70, Compton 59
Los Angeles Harbor 78, Vandenberg AFB 68
West L.A. and L.A. Harbor will have an all-Los Angeles consolation final Sunday at 1 p.m.

VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions

Contra Costa 63, Porterville 57
Imperial Valley 59, Taft 53
Contra Costa and Imperial Valley advance to Saturday's noon consolation final.

LOS ANGELES -- We're here live at the Coliseum to bring you live news and notes from the 80th all-time meeting between Notre Dame and USC.

The Notre Dame band, in its 168th year, plays the Notre Dame victory march, in its 100th anniversary year.

Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, the Oaks Christian School product, has never lost a game in the state of California or to a school from California. He was 42-0 in high school and is 2-0 against Stanford and 1-0 against both San Diego State and UCLA.

VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions
Ventura 87, Taft 52: VC runs past Taft by Ted Cotti in Ventura.
San Jose City 67, Imperial Valley 31
Canyons 92, Contra Costa 34
Mount San Antonio 78, Porterville 42

Moorpark Thanksgiving Classic
Fullerton 76, Moorpark 62: Moorpark suffers first defeat by Ivan Yeo in Moorpark
Los Angeles Valley 85, Los Angeles Southwest 67

Condor Classic
Ventura 88, Compton 81: Danny Benson scored 21 points. Prince Abidoye and Anthony Burtley added 12 points each. Will Faiivae scored 11 points and Dee Pinkard had 10. The Pirates will play Santa Barbara City today at 5 p.m.
Santa Barbara City 85, West Los Angeles 76
San Bernardino Valley def. Los Angeles Harbor
Oxnard 65, Vandenberg AFB 57: Matt Dewaal led the Condors with 20 points. John Johnson and Bernard Burrell each scored 11 points. Marc Pajund added 10 points. The Condors advance to the semifinals to play San Bernardino Valley at 7 tonight.

In a matchup of the No. 16 and No. 17 teams in the state, Moorpark College men's basketball team is struggling tonight against Fullerton in the semifinals of its Thanksgiving tournament.

The Raiders (6-0) have only converted four field goals and trail 41-23 at the half.

The first half was marred by four technical fouls

Chanelle Brennen had a team-high 19 points as the Ventura College women's basketball team, ranked No. 2 in the state, moved to the semifinals of its Tournament of Champions Friday night witha 87-51 win over visiting Taft at the VC Athletic Event Center.

Erika Ward had 18 points, Julie Heurung had 17 points and Amanda Padilla added 10 assists for the Pirates (6-0).

At the Moorpark College Thanksgiving Holiday tournament, Los Angeles Valley defeats Los Angeles Southwest, 85-67, to move to Saturday's final.

The Monarchs await the winner of the Game of the Night, unbeaten and No. 16-ranked Moorpark's visit from powerful and No. 17 ranked Fullerton.

No. 1 Mount San Antonio College and No. 11 College of the Canyons advance in the first two games of the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions Friday afternoon at the VC Athletic Events Center.

Mount SAC (7-0) hammered Porterville, 78-42. Canyons (5-3) pounded Contra Costa, 92-34.

They will contest an anticipated 5 p.m. semifinal Saturday.

Danny Benson scored 21 points as the Ventura College men's basketball team improved to 5-3 with an 88-81 win over Compton College in the quarterfinals of the Condor Classic Friday afternoon at Oxnard College.

Santa Barbara City beat West Los Angeles, 85-76, in the first quarterfinal. So Ventura will play conference-rival Santa Barbara City 5 p.m. Saturday in the first semifinal.

Coach Ned Mircetic, attempting to win two games in two different cities in the same day, was pleased with the win:

"We have the capacity to be a good team. It's clear as day."

Here are the community college men's basketball previews, which ran over the past week:

Moorpark College: Contender or pretender? by Joe Curley
Ventura College: VC pressing on as issues from last season linger by Joe Curley
Oxnard College: Oxnard expects road will be bumpy by Joe Curley

Click on the jump for the preview boxes for all three schools.

The Ventura College women's soccer team, ranked No. 5 in the nation, was upset 2-0 Tuesday in the regional semifinals by San Diego Mesa.

Coach Steve Hoffman responded after the game to Star teammate Jeffrey Dransfeldt:

"The other team played better than we did. That's the game of soccer. You can't give away two goals like that and expect to win. It had nothing to do with the weather. We came out a little bit flat. They're a good team."

Hoffman highlighted the absence of Lauren Nelson, who didn't play as the result of two yellow cards against Southwestern.

"(Against) Southwest we came out for 15 minutes and played well before (we went flat) and played like that. Tonight we just had no energy."

"They knew how we played and did a good job with their defensive structure. What they did is they played very deep so we couldn't get behind them, which is tactically smart."

"That's one of the best teams we've played this year."

Hoffman also mentioned the 16 freshmen who will return to the program next season, along with five redshirts and a fresh incoming class.

It's official. For the second straight year, the Ventura College football team lead the state in pass defense this season.

The Pirates topped the state in yards allowed per game (137.6), yards allowed per completion (10.3) and passing touchdowns against (6).

"The good news is that we've led the state in pass defense for two
years and hopefully have started a new tradition," wrote secondary coach Tom Lawrence in an e-mail.

"The bad news is we have to replace three starters in the secondary."

Star safety Travaun Nixon, who led the Northern Conference in tackles, will be the only returning starter in the secondary next fall.

The Ventura College women's soccer team just can't seem to get back-to-back wins in the Southern California regional playoffs.

The Pirates, who fell 2-0 to San Diego Mesa in the regional semifinals Tuesday, dropped to 0-7 since 1997 after opening the playoffs with in a win.

Ventura had snapped its four-game playoff losing streak with a 2-1 win over Southwestern Saturday.

Perhaps the two teams which had the best falls in county community college athletics had their seasons shockingly ended at home early Tuesday night.

The Ventura College women's soccer team, seeded No. 2 in Southern California and ranked No. 5 in the nation, had its 18-game undefeated streak ended 2-0 by No. 7 San Diego Mesa in the regional semifinals at the VC Sportsplex.

The Moorpark College women's volleyball team, seeded No. 4 in Southern California and ranked No. 5 in the state, had its 12-game winning streak snapped 3-0 by No. 13 Cypress in the regional semifinals at Raider Pavilion.

Neither team had lost since September.

San Diego Mesa scored twice in the first 13 minutes and kept a clean sheet to eliminate the Ventura College women's soccer team, 2-0, in the Southern California regional semifinals on a rainy Tuesday night at the VC Sportsplex.

The Pirates (18-2-3) allowed more than one goal for the first time in 17 matches and were shut out for the first time this season.

Ventura College men's basketball coach Ned Mircetic spoke to HomefieldSports.com about the Pirates' win Tuesday night over Canyons.

"Probably the best adjustment was I think the kids needed to come out (in the second half) with a little more sense of purpose," said Mircetic.

"The scoring has been shared much of the year. For those two guys (Prince Abidoye and Danny Benson) to step up and score a little bit more was much appreciated."

The Ventura College men's basketball team improves to 4-3 with a 84-67 win over College of the Canyons Tuesday night at the VC Athletic Event Center.

Prince Abidoye had 25 points, including 23 in the second half, and Danny Benson added 21 points for the Pirates. The previous single-game high for a VC player this season was 20.

"Coach just told us to be aggressive," Abidoye told HomefieldSports.com. "He said we weren't playing hard enough."

Canyons (1-5) has now lost to all three Ventura County schools -- Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura in order.

Prince Abidoye has 17 second-half points as the Ventura College men's basketball team leads Canyons 75-63 with less than three minutes to play at the VC Athletic Event Center.

Ventura has outscored Canyons 39-20 in the second half.

The Ventura College women's soccer team, ranked No. 5 in the nation, trails San Diego Mesa 2-0 in the 66th minute in the Southern California regional semifinals at the VC Sportsplex.

Prince Abidoye's dunk gives the Pirates their biggest lead of the night. The sophomore has 16 points.

Canyons is close to being swept by all three county programs.

The Moorpark College women's volleyball team, ranked No. 5 in the state, is swept out of the Southern California regional playoffs by No. 13-seed Cypress Tuesday night at Raider Pavilion.

Cypress wins 25-20, 26-24, 27-25.

Prince Abidoye's 3-point play gives VC a 64-55 lead with less than eight minutes to play against Canyons.

Trailing 2-0 at the half, the VC women's soccer team needs goals.

Looking to go back over .500, the Ventura College men's basketball team has pulled even with Canyons 49-49 with 12:20 to play at VC Athletic Event Center.

Jordan Harris' layup makes it 52-49 VC with under 12 to play.

In fact, Mike Diacos swishes a 3-pointer to give the Pirates their biggest lead at 55-51.

The Raiders are 17 points from elimination.

Despite two late aces by Kayla Ingraham, the No. 4-seeded Moorpark College women's volleyball team is on upset alert.

Visiting Cypress leads two games to none at Raider Pavilion after pulling out the second game, 26-24.

Savannah Thomas has eight kills to lead Moorpark (20-4), followed by six kills and eight digs for Una Siljegovic. Rachel Olinyk has seven blocks.

Forty five minutes remain for the Pirates to avoid the upset.

Esparza, Mesa's second goalscorer, seemed to injure an ankle in the 38th minute.

Down 21-18 in the second game, the Moorpark College women's volleyball team is four points from being backed into a 2-0 corner in the its postseason debut against No. 13 Cypress.

Canyons finishes strong to take a 43-37 lead at the half against the Ventura College men's basketball team.

The teams were tied with five minutes to play in the half.

Danny Benson has a team-high 13 points for Ventura (3-3). Canyons' Jason Holzwarth has a game-high 15.

The Raiders are in a battle with a tough team from the Orange Empire Conference.

"Both teams got out of system a lot, but Cypress is smaller and faster and have improvised a lot more," reports Star teammate Ryan Gorcey from Raider Pavilion.

5:33 left in the first half at the VC Athletic Event Center

The Moorpark College women's volleyball team, seeded No. 4 in the Southern California regional playoffs, trails No. 13 Cypress 22-17 in the first game at Raider Pavilion.

Sola Esparza converts on a breakaway to give visiting San Diego Mesa a shocking 2-0 lead over the No. 2-seeded Ventura College women's soccer team after 13 minutes in the Southern California regional semifinals at the VC Sportsplex.

"(Mesa) has been much more aggressive at start," reports Star teammate Jeff Dransfeldt from the VC Sportsplex. "It's the same as Saturday, VC is taking a while to get going."

Jeremiah Slowik's layup gives the Ventura College men's basketball team an early 21-20 lead over College of the Canyons tonight at the VC Sportsplex.

You can listen live at http://www.HomefieldSports.com.

Rough start for the Ventura College women's soccer team, which falls behind San Diego Mesa 1-0 in the first 60 seconds in the teams' Southern California regional semifinal Tuesday night at the VC Sportsplex.

Oxnard College star guard Ryan McLucas may be lost for the season.

Doctors last week found a cyst behind the sore knee of the former Rio Mesa High standout, who was averaging 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game before missing Saturday's overtime win at College of the Canyon.

He is expected to be lost for the remainder of the season.

"That's what it looks like," said head coach Jason Cunningham. "The doctor's prescription was for him to take six weeks off... We've talked about him getting a medical (redshirt)."

Losing perhaps its best two-way player, who Cunningham calls "the best defender in the WSC," is just the latest blow to a promising season.

McLucas' injury means a starting place for St. Bonaventure High product Nick Molina, who Cunningham called "another tough kid defensively" and "court savvy."

Many of McLucas' shots may go to freshman Marc Pajund, a high-scoring wing from Compton Centennial.

The Moorpark College women's volleyball team (20-4), ranked No. 5 in the state, begins the Southern California regional playoffs tonight at home against Cypress College.

The No. 4-seeded Raiders knew it would see a team from the powerful Orange Empire Conference at some point in the postseason.

"You know how I love to play the Orange Empire," said Moorpark College coach Steve Burkhart. "We're going to represent the WSC North."

"It's kind of funny the way it worked out. Cypress was originally the 10th seed. They fell to No. 13 because they couldn't play any other OEC team and there was five in the Top 10.

Cypress features freshman outside hitter Marina Samoa, who leads the state with 4.76 kills per game.

"As far as my team is concerned, it's like, OK, we've got to beat all comers," said Burkhart. "We're ready and we've got a home game.

Click the jump for the full pairings.

The Moorpark College men's basketball team (5-0) is up to No. 16 in this week's state coaches' poll, No. 8 in Southern California.

The Raiders host their annual Thanksgiving Holiday tournament this weekend, with a potential meeting with powerful Fullerton looming Friday night at Raider Pavilion.

Defending state champion Citrus (6-0) regained the top spot in the state.

Ventura (3-3) and Oxnard (1-4) remain unranked.

Click the jump for the full polls.

Thousand Oaks High product Matt Luft, Harvard's leading receiver, had three catches for 43 yards in freezing temperatures Saturday afternoon as the Crimson defeated Yale, 10-0, in the 125th playing of The Game at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.

Ventura College freshman safety Travaun Nixon is the local highlight to the inaugural All-Northern Conference football team.

The Hueneme High product, who led the conference with 81 tackles and finished third with three interceptions, was the only local unanimous first-team All-Northern Conference team.

Two other Pirates, receiver Nick Karam and defensive end Ricky Grant, joined Nixon on the first team.

Karam led the conference in kick returning (27.5 yards per return) and finished third in punt returning (12.2 yards per return).

Moorpark had five second-team selections, quarterback Donald Senegal, center Steve Josker, receiver Mark Urbina, defensive end James Brito-White, and linebacker Miller Aupiu Jr.

Ventura had six players on the second team, quarterback Lee Mondol, running back Michael Lee, defensive tackle Josh Aguirre, linebacker Trevor Lyne, cornerback Byron Sells and punter Alvaro Perez.

Mondol lead the conference in passing yards (2,128), touchdowns (22) and finished second in total offense (217.9 yards per game).

Moorpark star running back Danny Mosier, who rushed for 640 yards and eight touchdowns despite missing nearly half the season, was left off the team.