The Cerritos College women's water polo team had their hands full in two of the four games they played at the San Diego Mesa Tournament over the weekend. The Falcons, ranked #3 in the state, opened the tournament with wins over Miramar College (21-7) and Citrus (20-6). But it was on the second day that the team had to fight for one of their two wins. Although they never trailed, Cerritos (13-2) held off Palomar College late in the early game for a 9-6 win, before dropping an 8-5 decision against the Old Mission Bay Aquatic Club. The team will return to South Coast Conference play on Wednesday for a 3:00 p.m. contest against Rio Hondo College at the Cerritos Aquatic Center.

In the loss to Mission Bay, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a Katherine Gabayeron (Cerritos HS) goal. But that would be the team's only lead in the game, as they trailed by as much as 6-3 at the end of the third quarter. Sloppy passing hurt the team, as they made 10 turnovers, but sophomore goalkeeper Sharon Ku (Cerritos HS) did record eight saves and added five steals, while freshman Teresa Zuniga (California HS) and Jasmine Villalpando (Montebello HS) both posted three steals.

By the second quarter against Palomar, Cerritos led 4-1, but saw the Comets close the lead to 6-4 and then 7-5 in the third quarter. But Gabayeron scored one of her three goals with 5:03 left in the game to give the Falcons an 8-5 lead, with sophomore Diana Medina (Pioneer HS) extending the advantage with 2:27 left. The defense, led by Ku (10 saves) kept Palomar off the board until :27 seconds were left in the game. Six different players scored once for Cerritos in the win.

The tournament opened with Yuridia Vela (Schurr HS), Bianca Serrano (Cerritos HS) and Jasmine Medina (Pioneer HS) all scoring three times in the win over Miramar, while four others each scored a pair of goals. Freshman Samantha Aguilar (Western HS) stepped into goal and made five saves, while Villalpando and Jasmine Medina each assisted on three goals. Vela led the way in the win over Citrus with a career-high seven goals, while freshman Carla Harvey (Potomac Hills, VA HS) and Gabayeron accounting for three goals each. Jasmine Medina assisted in five goals, while Ku turned away 12 shots and registered five steals.