Ventura Continues Its Dominating Play in Basketball

The Ventura College men’s basketball team has won 27 of its last 28 games over the past two seasons. The Pirates (9-0) had an 18-game winning streak last season before losing to Cerritos, 82-72, in the semifinals of the state tournament.

Volleyball: Senior starters Nancy Nicholls, Dawn Krenik and Shelly Swalec of Northridge concluded their collegiate careers in Saturday night’s 14-16, 8-15, 10-15 loss to USC in the first round of the NCAA West regional, but each has left her mark in the Northridge record book.

Nicholls, a 6-foot middle blocker from Cleveland High, is the all-time Northridge leader in games played (444) and kill attempts (3,110), and she ranks second in kills (1,251), block solos (83), block assists (315) and total blocks (398). She is also third in digs (1,028), tied for fifth in service aces (95) and is eighth in kills-per-game average (2.82).

Krenik, a 5-7 outside hitter from Agoura High who transferred to Northridge after her freshman season at Portland State, is the Matador leader in digs (1,113) and service aces (129), and she ranks fourth in games played (369) and 10th in kill attempts (1,422).

Swalec, a 5-10 middle blocker from Sterling Heights, Mich., was hampered by injuries during her first three years at Northridge, but she set a single-season record for block assists (135) this season and with 155 total blocks moved to third on that list. Swalec also is ranked sixth on the all-time list in block assists (181) and total blocks (203), and is ninth in digs (552).

Swimming: Cal State Northridge junior Marti Carlson clocked a personal-best time of 2 minutes 10.59 seconds in the 200-yard backstroke last weekend in the Speedo Collegiate Cup West at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Ian Wisler-Poulsen, a freshman from Ballerup, Denmark, clocked a promising time of 1:58.09 in the 200 butterfly. “He has never really done a lot of training,” Northridge Coach Pete Accardy said. “I think he can get down to a 1:50.00.”

Basketball: Six Cal Lutheran players are averaging in double figures, led by Derrick Clark with a 12.5 average. Kelly Crosby is next (12.0), followed by Damon Ridley (11.9), Jared Byrne (11.3), Dave Ulloa (10.7) and Paul Tapp (10.7). Clark, a transfer from Lassen College in Susanville, Calif., is also the team’s leading rebounder with an 8.8 average.

Andy Thompson, a junior transfer from Hawaii-Hilo, leads The Master’s with a 17.3 scoring average on 53.3% shooting. Senior guard David Humphreys is averaging 12.2 points a game and Emeka Okenwa, a 6-8 junior transfer from Southern Illinois, has an 11.9 average. . . . Audrey McMurry, a 5-9 freshman from San Bernardino, is the top scorer on The Master’s women’s team with a 17.4 average. Sophomores Deborah Prociw (11.6) and Tricia Plummer (11.4) also are averaging in double figures.

Statistics through Tuesday.