Centaurs Spikers Shine at All-Star Exhibition

After leading Culver City High all the way to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs, three Centaurs were back on the court Wednesday night to participate in the Westside Boys Volleyball All-Star Exhibition.

Quickly organized by Santa Monica High Coach Liane Sato, the event gave 16 of the best players representing five area programs one last chance to showcase their skills before starting summer vacation. 

Blue and gold teams were formed and each eight-man roster was a mixture of players from different schools, giving teammates a unique opportunity to play against each other. Representing Culver City were outside hitter Andy Aguila, middle blocker Kekoa Mathews and setter Alex Aguilera.

Aguila and Mathews played on the blue team, piloted by Beverly Hills Coach Jonathan Ramin. Aguilera was on the gold team, guided by Windward Coach Michelle McGuire. 

"It was a fun experience," said Aguilera, whose gold team dropped the first two sets but rallied to sweep the last three. "Everyone knows the game, so it didn't take long to gel. The first two games were a wake-up call. Once we started playing as a team more than as individuals, we started winning."

Though no official stats were kept, Aguila was one of the kill leaders for the blue team and he ended the opening set with a spike that was blocked out of bounds. Aguila passed to Santa Monica High middle blocker Julian Hess for a touch kill that gave the blue team a 25-23 set two win.

"Both of them were terrific," McGuire said of her Culver City players. "Kekoa had a couple big blocks and Andy had some great put-aways. He can really jump high."

Rounding out the blue team were Daniel Tabariai and Jason Nik of Beverly Hills, Drew Pion of Windward, Taylor Moldo of Crossroads and Jack Cramer of Santa Monica, which won the Division 4 championship at Cypress College. 

Joining Aguilera on the gold team were Charles Levy, Eric Barber and Trevor Pye of Santa Monica, Jake Hurwitz of Crossroads, Joshua Johnson of Beverly Hills and Chase Pion of Windward. 

"This was a great way for the three of us to finish off our [senior] season," Aguilera said. "It's been a great year all-around. We've never been that far in volleyball and the baseball team got to the semis, too."