Eliminated from Western Athletic Conference title contention, Ceres High’s second-place varsity girls water polo team took out its frustration on Los Banos and Mountain House last week.

“We beat both teams by a pretty good margin,” coach Stephen Dias said. 

Ceres High clinched its third consecutive playoff berth with a 14-2 win over visiting Los Banos on Oct. 16.

The Tigers edged out the Bulldogs for the WAC title in 2017 and 2016.

Ceres High compiled a 2-0 record against Los Banos this year.

“It’s nice to beat them,” Dias said. “I just wish we had to work harder to win.”

Camryn Silva, Gisele Garcia, Kassandra Armas, Ninweh Gores, Isabel Juarez, Hanna Brown, Yesenia Colunga, Adriana Lopez and Sabrina Taylor were recognized before the Ceres High-Los Banos match.

The nine seniors played at home for the final time.

“Several of them got emotional,” Dias said. “That’s normal. They’ve become a family.”

Garcia made seven saves while starring at goalkeeper against Los Banos.

Silva collected a game-high six goals.

Armas had three goals.

Garcia had one goal.

Emily Wolff had four goals.

Ceres High improved to 9-2 in the WAC standings with a 24-3 victory at Mountain House on Thursday.

Wolff tallied a career-high 11 goals.

Silva and Garcia both collected four goals.

Armas had two goals.

Gorges, Elyse Cannella and Makayla Estermann all contributed one goal.

Juarez totaled eight blocks at goalkeeper.

“We controlled the game the whole time,” Dias said. 

The Bulldogs have qualified for the postseason four times under Dias’ guidance.

He led Ceres High to its first-ever playoff appearance in 2012.

 The 2018 Bulldogs competed with a revamped lineup as seven players from a year ago were lost to graduation, including WAC MVP Camryn Elness and second-team all-league selections Emily Campidonica, Noelia De Leon and Savannah Zielke.

“We thought this year was going to be a rough year,” Dias said.  “The girls have pulled through and done a fantastic job. They worked hard.”