The men’s water polo team has been working on communication as it prepares for this weekend’s Golden West Tournament at Cerritos College.

Driver Felix Gonzalez said, “We’re just training really hard, practicing as a team and communicating with our coach.”

Utility player Carlos Abrego added, “As a team we’re all focusing on communicating with one another to have better team chemistry, and individually we each know what to get better at, so every practice we’re coming in there focusing on one thing so we better ourselves and if we better ourselves, we can better the team as a whole.”

Initially, communication did not come easy to the team due to a new roster, but Abrego hopes that the improvements will play a factor in the team’s upcoming games.

“We’re better acquainted, we all know each other’s names and we can give each other a signal with our eyes because we’re all close to each other now. We know how we play and what to expect, where we want the pass, where we want the ball to be put in,” he said.

The team (16-7 overall, 3-1 conference) has also been working on defense, conditioning, passing and 6 on 5, said coach Joe Abing. “Every part of the game, we’ve continued to work on every day,” he said.

Home advantage is another factor that the Falcons hope will be beneficial because “you have your own fans here, you have your school pride here cheering on,” Gonzalez said.

Abrego added, “I think it makes us feel more comfortable. It gives us more of a reason to show off and play our best because it’s our house and we don’t want to lose or be disrespected in our own home.”

The team will play Riverside and Orange Coast on Friday at 10:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively, then American River at 7:45 a.m. and San Joaquin Delta at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.

“I think Riverside should be a good game. I heard they were good this year and I’m excited to see if we can beat them,” Abrego said, while his teammate Gonzalez said,

“I just hope we do well in our upcoming games and we do our best.”