Cristina Rocha will double as head coach of Central Valley’s boys and girls water polo programs this fall.

The Hawks’ boys team was previously coached by Tyler Bolton.

“Rocha is a great coach,” Central Valley girls co-captain Joellene Roton stated. “She’s very passionate about the sport. She wants us to get better every day.”

“She (Rocha) cares about everybody,” Hawks’ boys co-captain Sunny Breshears said. “She has a lot of knowledge of the game. She’s very vocal. She tells you what you need to improve on so you can help your team succeed.”

Central Valley’s boys team has a roster size of 10 players.

The Hawks lost six players to graduation, including Salvador Almazan Valdovinos, Caleb Beckhart, Nick DeLeon, Noe Lomeli Gutierrez, Isaiah Shirley and Sean Vernon.

Beckhart was selected to the Western Athletic Conference Second Team during his final season with Central Valley.

DeLeon was a WAC honorable-mention selection.

The Hawks return three players from a year ago, including Breshears (Sr.), Ari Luman (Jr.) and Ezekiel Castorena (Jr.).

Central Valley has seven newcomers: Irwin Garcia Mendoza (Sr.), Urijah Krigbaum (Sr.), Cesar Placencia (Sr.), Donavin Decena (Jr.), Jared Zepeda (Jr.), Israel Garcia (So.) and Aiden Vang (So.).

Breshears and Luman have been named team captains.

Luman led the Hawks in scoring as a sophomore.

He earned WAC honorable-mention recognition.

Breshears will start at goalkeeper for the second year in a row.

“It’s an honor to be one of the captains,” Breshears said.

The Hawks compiled a 4-10 record on their way to a sixth-place finish in the 2025 WAC standings.

Central Valley bested crosstown-rival Ceres High twice (4-2, 8-3) last season.

The Hawks improved their all-time head-to-head record versus the Bulldogs to 3-1.

“As long as we keep improving, we can possibly do better than we did last year,” Breshears said. “We have to increase our physicality in the pool.”

Central Valley’s girls team has a roster size of nine players.

Natalie Southavongsa, Kadynce Piceno, Dulce Renteria and Mikayla Young were lost to graduation.

Southavongsa was a WAC honorable-mention selection as a senior.

The Hawks return five players from a year ago, including Roton (Sr.), Lilyanna Madrigal (Sr.), Anna Aulakh (So.), Yailene Cardenas (So.) and Isabella Madrigal (So.).

Central Valley has four newcomers: Maite De La Torre (Sr.), Adreanna Garcia (So.), Lilah Martinez (Fr.) and Diora Nop (Fr.).

Roton and Lilyanna Madrigal have been named team captains. Both players earned WAC honors as juniors.

Madrigal was selected to the WAC Second Team.

She scored a team-high 110 goals, including 14 versus crosstown-rival Ceres High.

Roton was a WAC honorable-mention selection.

She tallied 12 goals.

“Me and Lily work really well together during games,” Roton said.

Central Valley posted a 3-11 record en route to a seventh-place finish in the 2025 WAC standings.

The Hawks suffered a pair of losses (19-9, 24-14) while batting the Bulldogs.

Central Valley has an all-time head-to-head record of 0-4 versus Ceres High.

“We’re going to do better than last season,” Roton said. “We have really good communication on the team. We work really hard.”