Playing some of the tougher teams in Southern California, the Cerritos College women's water polo team won one of four games at the Riverside City Tournament over the weekend. The Falcons (3-3) opened with losses to San Joaquin Delta College (15-10) and the host Tigers (13-6) on the first day and came back to defeat Allan Hancock College (8-4), before a 10-8 loss to Orange Coast College ended their day. The team will host Rio Hondo College at 3:00 p.m. in a South Coast Conference match on Wednesday.

Cerritos vs. San Joaquin Delta: Facing their only opponent from Northern California, slow starts in each half hurt the team. The played the second and fourth quarters evenly, but the damage had been done. The Falcons closed the gap to 5-4 in the second quarter after an Isabella Sierra (California HS) goal, but the Mustangs came back to score three of the next four goals by halftime. Sierra led the team with six goals and four steals in the loss, while freshman Hailey Rabb (Gahr HS) posted a pair of goals and three steals. Sophomore goalkeeper Ivanna Tostado (Troy HS) turned away 12 shots, but it wasn't enough.

Cerritos vs. Riverside City: It didn't get any easier for the Falcons, who took on the defending CCCAA State Champions in their own pool. The Tigers scored the first four goals of the game before Cerritos could respond. Rabb and sophomore Jackie Oliveros (Gahr HS) got the team on the board in the first quarter to close to within 5-2, but RCC opened the second quarter with three unanswered goals. By the end of the game, Sierra (four steals) and freshman Lizbeth Gomez (Schurr HS) each scored twice, while Rabb and Gomez combined for six steals. Tostado did her best in goal and recorded six saves.

Cerritos vs. Allan Hancock: A tenacious defensive effort against the Bulldogs resulted in the Falcons registering 18 steals. The allowed just one goal in a tightly contested first half, and held a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Sierra. Rabb and Gomez scored the first two goals of the second half to give Cerritos a comfortable 4-1 lead and maintained a 6-3 advantage heading into the final eight minutes. Sierra made it a 7-3 game early in the fourth quarter, with Gomez finishing off the scoring with :33 seconds remaining. In addition to her 10 saves, Tosdado also assisted on a pair of goals and made two steals, with Sierra producing a trio of goals. Rabb (five steals) and Gomez each added a pair of goals.

Cerritos vs. Orange Coast: Taking on a very good Pirates team, the Falcons battled back from a 4-0 first quarter deficit and got to within 9-8 late in the fourth quarter. Consecutive goals by Oliveros, sophomore Elisa Prohroff (Schurr HS) and Gomez (with Sierra receiving the assist on all three goals) got them team as close as 9-8 with 1:15 remaining. However, Orange Coast scored on their next possession and kept Cerritos off the board the remainder of the game to close them out. Gomez paced the team with three goals, while Sierra and Oliveros each had four steals.