A tough battle was fought between two determined teams, but the Moorpark Raiders were able to pull away and sweep the Ventura College Pirates (25-17, 25-16, and 25-19).

The first set began about as bad as the Raiders (11-1, 4-0 WSC) could have hoped, as the Pirates (5-7, 3-3 WSC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Pirates played energetically to begin the set and were swarming to the ball on defense.

The Pirates were able to get ahead of a Raiders team that was clearly struggling defensively. The Raiders were able to bounce back, however, making adjustments defensively to take an 8-7 lead. The Pirates would not give up though and continued to fight, retaking the lead 16-15.

The Raiders were not rattled by their early struggles, and would pull away behind three straight aces by sophomore middle blocker Rachel Olinyk.

The second set saw the Raiders take advantage of their size on the front row. Their size advantage allowed them to take a 6-2 lead early and they would never surrender it. The Raiders would cruise to a 25-16 victory in the second set.

Down 0-2, the Pirates began had a sense of urgency. However, the Pirates started out the third set down 4-1, with the match looking even bleaker than before.

With the offs against them, the Pirates fought hard. The Pirates would be within one point or tied for most of the third set. Despite a strong sense of urgency, the overpowering size up front proved to be too much for the Pirates.

Freshman outside hitter Kasey Ullery scored four of the last six points in the game, ending all hopes for any Pirate comeback.

Despite the sweep, head coach Steve Burkhart believed the Raiders were not at their best offensively, and could have played better.

“[We were] not as clean as we should have been [offensively],” he said.

Burkhart did add, however, how pleased he was with his team’s defensive performance.
“We played pretty good defense,” Burkhart said.

At 11-1 (4-0 WSC), the Raiders have the best record in the Western State Conference.