Bay Valley Athletic League varsity water polo teams had a rough weekend. Liberty, Freedom and Heritage high schools all made first-round exits at the North Coast Section tournament.

The 11th-seeded Liberty girls team saw any hope of an upset over sixth-seeded Mission San Jose dashed quickly. The physical and quick Warriors scored nearly at will in the first quarter, posting 10 consecutive goals en route to a 20-6 victory at De La Salle High School in Concord.

“The girls didn’t quit; even though the score was pretty lopsided, they went out and played their hearts out,” Lion head coach Chris Rose said. “As a coach, that’s all you can ask.”

Co-BVAL champ Liberty put up more of a fight in the second and third quarters, but the deficit was too grand. Mission San Jose, which finished the regular season 15-5, was led by Laura Cann and Blair Ackerland, each of whom scored four goals. Lion senior Lindsey Hull netted a team-high four goals.

Monte Vista 7, Liberty boys 2

Despite a monster effort from senior goalie Leo Colbert, Liberty’s boys team was defeated by Monte Vista 7-2. Colbert stayed busy, racking up 18 saves on the night.

“Basically, we lost to a better team,” Colbert said. “We came into this game knowing it was going to be tough.”

The Mustangs put up two goals in the first quarter before Liberty got on the board in the second quarter on a goal by Jase Roessler. Head coach Kurt Roessler said that generating offense would be a problem going in, especially against a tough team like Monte Vista.

The Lions’ other goal was scored by Jake Flint in the third quarter. The playoff loss capped a regular season in which Liberty went 17-7 and earned the outright BVAL title.

Clayton Valley 9, Freedom girls 7

Though Freedom’s girls team dropped a close one to Clayton Valley 9-7, the loss didn’t dampen post-game spirits. As they did after every game this year, the Falcons danced the hokey pokey outside the De La Salle pool.

Freedom, in its NCS debut, rebounded from a 5-0 deficit in the first quarter to make things interesting. The Falcons kept pace with the Eagles throughout the rest of the game, but the gap created in the first quarter was too wide to overcome. Senior Taylor Henry led Freedom with five goals.

“It took them that whole first quarter to kind of shake off the cobwebs and relax a little bit,” head coach Lindsay Bell said. “The girls in the game played their hearts out. I couldn’t be more proud.”

The Falcons finished the regular season 19-6 and earned a BVAL co-championship with Liberty.

Foothill 12, Heritage girls 3

The Heritage girls team was excited to make it to NCS for the first time, but was shown the door early, losing 12-3 to Foothill.

Caitlin Cook scored two goals for the Patriots; Caitlyn Freeman the third. Though the score was rough, goalie Caitlin Bronzan made 15 saves. Heritage head coach Carol Bronzan was happy with the way her team performed at Miramonte High School in Orinda.

“We did play a great game,” she said. “I think our girls played as well as we played all year.”

The Patriots posted a 14-9 regular season, but Coach Bronzan said she was more excited for next year, when most of her team will be returning.

San Ramon Valley 20, Heritage boys 5

The 14th-seeded Heritage boys team was unable to pull off an upset on Saturday against No. 3 seed San Ramon Valley, losing 20-5. The Patriots went 13-11 in the regular season and faced an uphill battle against the Wolves at Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga.