by Timothy Weisberg | Jan 15, 2010 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Published on December 1, 2009
David Lopez
Editor
The Mt. San Antonio College Mounties won just a single battle against the Ventura College Pirates on Sunday night in the championship game of the 12th annual Ventura College Tournament of Champions game, and that was the opening tip off.
The Pirates suffocated any offensive run the Mounties tried to put together in a 66-43 blowout, en route to their fourth tournament championship trophy and second consecutive title.
The Pirates were led by sophomore Amanda Padilla, who finished the game with 24 points and was crowned tournament MVP. Pirates’ coach Ned Mircetic, in his 20th season with the team, said that Padilla ran the offense the best he had ever seen.
“She executed that offense as well as anybody at any level,” Mircetic said. “A lot of teams in the NBA run that offense, and they don’t orchestrate as well she did. They typically do it once or twice, but she did it for the whole game.”
Padilla received help from sophomore guard Erika Ward, who racked up 19 points, and sophomore Chanelle Brennan, who put in nine points, and was named to the 2009 All-Tournament Team.
The Pirates came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in the state, and left the Mounties, ranked No. 2, in the dust right from the beginning.
The Pirates jumped out to a 16-3 lead after five-and-a-half minutes. From there, the closest the Mounties were able to cut the lead down to was six with 2:18 remaining in the first half.
After the first minute of the second half, the game was never closer than 14 points in the Pirates’ favor.
With the tournament victory, the Pirates take one step towards a repeat of last year, finishing with a 34-1 record after getting knocked out of the CCCAA playoffs in the semi-finals.
“I’m happy right now,” said Mircetic. “We’ll enjoy it tonight and early tomorrow, but the games start coming pretty fast, you have to let this one go pretty quick.”
However, Mircetic did not overlook the team’s performance in the two games leading up to the tournament championship game.
“For the last two games, we were pretty average,” Mercetic said. “To put out this kind of effort, it really gives you hope for improvement, and it gives you hope of being able to add to this.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Jan 15, 2010 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Published on November 28, 2009
Michael Prieto
Staff writer
The Moorpark Raiders were unable to advance to the State Championships, falling to the Orange Coast College Pirates in five sets (22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 8-15) at Raider Pavilion Saturday night.
The match had the makings of a dogfight from the very beginning, featuring the Western State Conference champs against the winners of the Orange Empire Conference.
Both the Raiders and Pirates would be neck and neck for much of the early going. Each team was within two points of the other for most of the set.
However, Moorpark was unable to win the close battle, falling behind 23-20, before eventually dropping the first set 22-25.
In the second set, the Raiders came out strong as they attempted to pound their way into some separation on the scoreboard. The Raiders succeeded, taking a 15-9 lead, and never let the Pirates come back, clawing their way to a 25-19 victory in the second set behind accurate hitting by the frontline and with a much bigger sense of urgency defensively.
The third set would eerily mirror the first set as the Raiders and Pirates would be knotted up or within three points for much of the set.
The Raiders’ powerful hits on the frontline did not help generate points offensively, and the Raiders trailed the match 2-1 after losing the second set 25-21.
Standing in unfamiliar territory, the Raiders had to play from behind, with their backs completely against the wall, but stepped up to the challenge by dominating the fourth set.
Sophomore outside hitter Una Siljegovic and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Olinyk would be unstoppable forces on the Raider frontline, helping the Raiders take a commanding 21-9 lead.
They would struggle a bit to close out the match, allowing the Pirates to get within nine, but the Raiders took the set 25-16 to force a fifth set.
The Raiders proved that playing from behind was exhausting, and in the decisive set, the Raiders found themselves down 5-2 early, failing to show the same intensity they had in the fourth set. Their season came to an end when the Pirates had the Raiders walk the plank, stealing the fifth and final set 15-9.
Although the Raiders failed to advance to the State Championships, Raiders head coach Steve Burkhart was proud of the way his team played.
“I thought we played great,” coach Steve Burkhart said, “They (Raiders) really represented themselves well.”
by Timothy Weisberg | Nov 29, 2009 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Published on November 24, 2009
Michael Prieto
Staff writer
The Moorpark Raiders rolled past the Mt. San Antonio College Mounties in three straight sets (25-12, 25-11, and 25-15) as they open the postseason with a victory.
The sweep did not appear so evident from the start when the Mounties took an early 5-2 lead. The Raiders started out very slow, missing the mark with a couple kills, and making some defensive mistakes. Sophomore outside hitter Una Siljegovic kept the Raiders in the game by scoring their first five points.
Despite the slow start, the tide turned for the Raiders when they took their first lead of the set at 8-7, which sparked a 13-2 run to push the lead to 12 points at 21-9. The Raiders frontline stepped it up late, and closed out the set 25-12.
The Raiders frontline proved to be too much for the Mounties, as the Raiders used a 8-1 run to take a 12-4 lead in the second set. They never trailed, and stellar defense and execution on the offense allowed the Raiders to take the important second set 25-11.
The Mounties could not spark a miraculous comeback, and appeared to give up when the Raiders took an 8-1 lead, in what appeared to be target practice.
The Mounties cut the lead to as close as 5 points, but the Raiders pushed through the Mounties onslaught of desperation in route to a 25-15 victory ending the set and match.
Freshman middleblocker Chelcy Westphal believes her team has the talent to move deep into the playoffs, but knows her team must step up their game because of the increased level of competition.
“All the teams are really good,” she said. “But I think we know we can do it.”
The Raiders look to build off their first-round playoff victory as they face Orange Coast College in the second-round on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.
by Timothy Weisberg | Nov 26, 2009 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Published on November 21, 2009
Shoaib Najmuddin
Staff writer
The Ventura College soccer team played like it was their last, defeating Antelope Valley College 2-1 at home Saturday night on a goal in overtime, helping them narrowly advance to the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.
The Pirates found themselves mostly on the offensive side of the field in the first half, shooting the ball on goal 11 times, overshadowing the Marauders’ four shots on goal. However, with a quick turnaround offensively, the Marauders actually out-shot the Pirates nine to seven in the second half
According to Pirates head coach Stephen Hoffman, the Marauders changed their offensive and defensive formations between the first half and the second half for strategic purposes.
“Their plan was to play defense in the first half and then come back offensively in the second to win,” said Hoffman. “They didn’t win, thankfully for us, but I thought they played very well.”
Pirate midfielder Jazmarae Strozier led the Pirates in scoring throughout the regular season. Strozier took a free kick after drawing a foul and was able to score on Marauder goalkeeper Thannia Huerta.
The Pirates held the advantage until midway through the second half. After a scramble in the box, Marauder forward Rheanna Crawford was able to score tying the game at one.
The score remained tied at one until the end of regulation.
In the overtime period, the Pirates and Marauders had a fairly even amount of shot attempts at 6-5.
The Pirates were able to score first when forward Yadira Toraya deflected a pass that went pass the Marauader goalkeeper and into the net, scoring the game-winning goal that pushed the Pirates past the Marauders 2-1.
According to Hoffman, the Pirates came to the game prepared to play extended minutes if it was necessary.
“We trained throughout the season for 120 minute games,” said Hoffman. “This one went on to go into an overtime period and we’re just happy we won.”
The Pirates will maintain home-field advantage in round two of the Southern California Regional Playoffs when they face Santa Monica City College on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
by Timothy Weisberg | Nov 26, 2009 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Photo by Tony Sintic
Published on November 24, 2009
Michael Prieto
Staff writer
Freshman Libero Erika Smith, an 18-year-old nursing major, has been playing volleyball for eight years yet she faced her toughest opponent in June 1999 when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Smith was diagnosed with Leukemia following her eighth birthday. After a fall off a chair led to difficulties walking a couple weeks later, she went to see a doctor. Following an X-ray, a cast was put on her leg. Though she had a fever as well, Smith and her family never connected the two. An MRI would reveal that her bone marrow in her knee was being pushed out.
Smith’s doctor called informing her and her family to pack their bags and head to UCLA hospital where her mother would find out some very difficult news on a piece of paper. Her mother saw that the paper said Smith had Leukemia.
Smith didn’t know exactly what was going on concerning her own health, but was scared nonetheless.
“I was just sitting there in a wheelchair,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was scary because I saw a bunch of people throwing up.”
The next day Smith would begin her treatment as well as her two-and-a-half year journey to recovery. Her journey would have its fair share of difficult moments, mainly centered on her family.
Smith’s relationship with her sister was tough during her illness because both wanted what the other had.
“Me and my sister fought a lot because I would get a whole bunch of gifts, and she got to play sports…so it was hard on my house, it was harder on my family than me,” Smith said.
These times were also hard on her older sister who had a different mother and would often leave the house and stay with her biological mother because she couldn’t take the stress at home.
Her parents had a particularly hard time dealing with the illness because they would be the ones who had to force Smith to take the medicine.
“It was really hard on them because they were the ones who had to force me to take pills,” she said. “I could not swallow pills for the life of me. It was so bad they had to crush and put them in chocolate syrup.”
Smith also said that her parents would even take more drastic measures in order to get her to take her medication, which made it even more hard on them.
“They would tie me in a blanket and put my arms down and force it down my throat,” she said. “And that was sort of a day to day routine, and that made it stressful on them.”
Even with her struggles to get healthy Smith never thought about giving up on volleyball. In fact, it was what drove her to get healthy.
“I know it was a drive,” she said. “I wanted to go back and play because its what I love to do.”
Today, she is a member of the Moorpark College women’s volleyball team, playing the game she loves.
Smith now has no trace of cancer in her body, but still goes to the doctors once a year for checkups, and once every two years for a survivor clinic where she is interviewed for more information on how to help people.
Though Smith feels Leukemia made her who she is today, she does not want anyone else to have to experience what she experienced.
“I know I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did, it just made me who I am,” Smith said.
by Timothy Weisberg | Nov 26, 2009 | Student Voice Edited Stories-Fall 2009
Published on November 21, 2009
David Lopez
Editor
The box scores will mark it down as a yard-and-a-half, two-point conversion, but the box score doesn’t begin to explain the teeter-totter of lead and momentum shifts in the first showing of the Orange County Rooster Bowl.
In the first round of overtime, Ventura College Pirates quarterback Antavius Sims tossed up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mike Holcomb to take a 36-29 lead over the Golden West College Rustlers.
With the Rustlers having possession of the ball they scored a touchdown, and then went on to put up a field goal to tie the game up in overtime.
However, Rustlers kicker Eric Torres was roughed up on the point after the touchdown attempt, so the referees took the point off the scoreboard and moved the ball up to the one-and-a-half yard line.
It was at that point that the Rustlers decided to go for the two-point conversion, and Chris Spencer ran into the end zone, shattering the Pirates chances for its first bowl win since 2007.
On the last play of the game, Sims scrambled and went out of bounds, but with no time remaining on the clock. Assuming the game was over; the Rustlers bench had cleared and went to celebrate.
Then, the flags came out from the referees. A personal foul later and one miracle play away from forcing overtime, Pirates’ kicker Tyler Stampler put up a 30-yard chip shot to tie the game at 29 each.
He converted and the wild overtime ensued.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Pirates received a gift in the form of a safety to give them a 23-21 lead with 7:40 remaining in the fourth. The Pirates were unable to score a touchdown on the next drive, so instead settled for a field goal from Stampler to give them a 26-21 lead.
The Pirates defense forced three turnovers on interceptions and almost a fourth in overtime that slipped out of the defenders hands.
Sims ended the season on a positive note throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 16 of 25 pass attempts, and rushed for another 92 yards. He was responsible for a touchdown on the ground as well.
With the loss, the Pirates ended their season at 7-4, and moved the school’s record to 3-7 all-time in bowl games.
