As the season progresses, the Cerritos College women's water polo team has shown their ability to not only play a wide open offensive game, but also a tight, defensive-minded game. Over the weekend, the Falcons (18-2) earned big wins over Los Angeles Pierce College (14-5), Diablo Valley College (13-5) and Pasadena City College (15-1), while they recorded a 7-5 win against Orange Coast College to finish up the tournament. Cerritos, ranked #3 in the state, will return to South Coast Conference play on Wednesday with a 3:00 p.m. contest against El Camino College at the Falcon Aquatic Center.

The team opened up a sizable 6-2 lead over LA Pierce in the first half and continued to extend their lead as the game progressed. Sophomore Katherine Gabayeron (Cerritos HS) led the offensive attack with six goals and added four steals on defense, while freshman Angelica Hernandez (El Rancho HS) accounted for four goals and three steals. Sophomore goalkeeper Sharon Ku (Cerritos HS) turned away 12 shots and assisted on a pair of goals, with freshman Jasmine Villalpando (Montebello HS) dished out six assists.

Gabayeron continued her torrid scoring with five goals in the win over Diablo Valley, who came into the game with only one loss on the season and ranked #9 in the state. The Falcons broke open a close game in the second quarter, turning a 2-1 game into a 6-1 lead at intermission. The game was as close as 8-4 in the third quarter, but Cerritos scored seven of the final eight goals in the game. Sophomore Yuridia Vela (Schurr HS) accounted for three goals, while Ku recorded 13 saves in the win.

In their first meeting against the host Lancers in an conference game, Cerritos posted an 11-2 win, and followed that up with a dominant performance at the tournament. After PCC scored to make the score 2-1 in the first quarter, the Falcons scored the final 13 goals of the game, with Vela (five goals) and Gabayeron (four goals) pacing the team. Freshman Carla Harvey (Potomac Falls, VA HS) had five assists in the game, while Hernandez made four steals, with Ku (seven saves, three steals, two assists) also playing a strong game.

The one test for Cerritos over the weekend was their final game against Orange Coast, although they led 6-3 in the fourth quarter and saw the Pirates get to within a pair of goals with 3:21 left. It was a quick 3-0 first quarter lead for the Falcons with Hernandez scoring two of her three goals to start the game. Ku turned away 13 shots, while Vela and Villalpando each turned in a pair of steals to help the defensive cause.