Ceres High’s youth-laden varsity boys water polo team fell short of its goal this fall.

The Bulldogs finished fourth overall with a 6-6 record in the revamped Western Athletic Conference standings.

The top three teams in the WAC advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, including Johansen (12-0), Beyer (10-2) and Grace Davis (8-4).

Ceres High lost twice to third-place Grace Davis.

The Bulldogs collected home-and-away against Los Banos, Pacheco and Mountain House.

Ceres High won three of its final four matches.

Ceres High defeated Mountain House 17-4 on Oct. 19, Los Banos 10-6 on Oct. 16 and Pacheco 9-2 on Oct. 11.

Bulldog team captains Elliott Lewis and Adam Rantz were honored during their final home match on Senior Day.

Lewis scored twice against Los Banos.

Sophomore Kenneth Arroyo had four goals.

Sophomore Brian Ayala had two goals.

Freshmen Mackay Cannella and Luis Alvarez both had one goal.

Freshman goalkeeper Jeremy Kier totaled eight blocks.

Ceres High could return nine players from this year’s team next fall, including Arroyo, Ayala, Cannella, Alvarez, Kier, Ryan Baranski, Cruz Fee, Nathaniel Pethyon and Dean Windom. 

Lewis and Rantz will be lost to graduation in June.