It only took one year for Sergio Macias to lead the Cerritos College women’s water polo team to their first-ever 20-win season. Macias, who came on to take over as the head coach last season, led the Falcons to a 21-11 record and just missed advancing to the Southern California Regional Playoffs. He guided the team to a third place finish in the South Coast Conference and they reached the championship game in five of the six tournaments in which they competed. Additionally, sophomore Berlyn Sanchez, who finished second in the state with 104 goals, became the first Falcon player to be named All-American.

Macias came to Cerritos College with a successful background as both a coach and a player. He started his coaching career with one of the top club programs in the nation, Commerce Aquatics, where he also learned how to play water polo. Macias then took over the Montebello High School water polo team who, at the time of his arrival, had only won one league championship for both the boy’s and girl’s varsity team. In a four-year span, Macias guided both the boy’s and girl’s water polo teams to three consecutive league champions. He guided the boy’s water polo team to back-to-back C.I.F. Div III. Championships and become the first sport in the school’s history to win back-to-back C.I.F. championships titles. He also led his girl’s team to the C.I.F. semi-finals Division I in 2005. Macias was named C.I.F. Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004, Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year 2003 and Whittier Daily News Coach of the Year 2004.

Macias played age group club water polo with the City of Commerce where he had the privilege to participate in several Junior Olympics and Junior National Tournaments. At Bell Gardens High School, Macias helped lead his team to four consecutive league championships and back-to-back C.I.F. championships in 1995 and 1996. As a player, he earned the league’s Most Valuable Player, CIF Most Valuable Player, 1^st Team All C.I.F., 1^st Team All-Southern California and 1^st Team All-American honors. Macias was also a member of the USA National Youth Team in 1994. After graduating high school he attended Whittier College where he became the school’s first-ever water polo player to receive SCIAC Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore. While at Whittier College, he was named 1^st Team All-Conference, 1^st Team WWPA, and 1^st Team All-American.

Macias graduated from Whittier College in 2001 with a Bachelors degree in Physical Education and Recreation.  He earned his Master of Science degree in Kinesiology at California State University of Los Angeles in 2005.

Also in her second year with the Falcon women’s water polo program, Brenda Villa offers a tremendous amount of knowledge and credibility to the program with her credentials. In addition to being a four-time 1^st Team All-American playing on the Bell Gardens High boys water polo team, she spent three seasons on the Stanford University water polo team and played internationally from 1996-2003 and has competed all over the world. As an attacker in international competition, Villa was one of most experienced members of the Team USA squad, as she helped lead them to 1^st Place in the Holiday Cup, Pan American Games and FINA World Championships in 2003. Villa led the team with 10 goals at the 2003 Pan American Games, including two in the gold medal win over Canada, which qualified them for the Athens Olympics. Additionally, she was named to the Media All-World Team at the 2002 World Cup and was a member of the 2002 Sydney Olympic team that won a silver medal.

While at Stanford, she was named the MPSF Player of the Year in 2003 and was a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award after winning the award the year prior. In her three seasons with the Cardinal, she finished with 172 goals and was a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year in 2002 after leading her team with 60 goals on their way to the NCAA championship. In her freshman season, she led the team with 69 goals as the team lost in the NCAA championship game. That season, Villa was also honored as the NCAA Division I Water Polo Player of the Year and was the MPSF Co-Player of the Year as a freshman.