In the South Coast Conference Tournament on Friday, the Cerritos College women's water polo team won a pair of games to advance to the championships on Saturday. The Falcons (20-6), the #2-seed for the tournament, opened with a 25-10 win over Chaffey College and then defeated host Mt. San Antonio College, 14-6. They will now take on rival Long Beach City College in the championships for the second season in a row at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. Earlier in the year, the Vikings handed the Falcons 10-9 loss in conference play.

Against the Panthers, Cerritos opened a 6-0 lead and never looked back. They were able to execute on offense on nearly every possession, and had 11 different players score at least one goal. The duo of sophomores Mia Carbajal (Schurr HS) and Gabriella Arenas (Montebello HS) each scored twice in the first period, while four others scored once. The Falcons opened their lead to 12-4 by intermission, but they continued their effectiveness on offense in the second half and added 13 more goals. The 25-goal output was their highest of the season and third time they broke the 20-goal barrier.

The defense came up with 15 steals, led by Carbajal, who had four, with three other players checking in with two.

Arenas went on to lead the team with six goals, while Carbajal and freshman Angelina Romero (Schurr HS) recorded four goals, along with four assists. Freshman Samantha Wisher (La Serna HS) also had four assists, with all of them coming in the fourth quarter, with freshman Keyla Santos (Schurr HS) adding three goals and two assists in the win. Sophomore Melodie Carbajal (El Rancho HS/Fullerton College), who assisted on the team's first two goals of the game, finished with three, with all coming in that first quarter.

In taking on the Mounties, Cerritos turned a close 4-3 game in the second period into a comfortable lead after recording seven consecutive goals. They finished off the second period with goals from Mia Carbajal and Miranda Alvarez (Schurr HS), and followed that by shutting out Mt. San Antonio in the third period. Five different players scored for the Falcons, with freshman goalkeeper Leslie Meza (California HS) even picking up an assist on the second goal.

By the end of the match, Alvarez had four goals, while Arenas and Mia Carbajal each had three goals, with Carbajal also assisting on three goals. Meza finished with 11 saves, while the team had 12 steals against the Mounties.

NOTE: Featured in the picture with the Falcons are Liz Garcia and Brenda Villa, who were high school teammates of Cerritos head coach Sergio Macias. Garcia was the CCCAA Women's Water Polo Player of the Year when she played for Rio Hondo College, while Villa is a four-time Olympic medal winner and former Falcon assistant coach.