Culver City High Volleyball Springs Upset

Riding a wave of confidence after its first-round sweep two days earlier, the Culver City High boys volleyball team was a heavy underdog Thursday against third-seeded Brentwood, but one would never know by the way the Centaurs played.

Energized by its home crowd, Culver City put together one of its most complete matches of the season and upset the Eagles, 25-19, 27-25, 21-25, 26-24, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.

It was a long and grueling contest and each set was decided by a few points. The turning point came in the second set when the Centaurs rallied from a 16-9 deficit to take a commanding two sets to none lead. 

"I'm not going out in a sweep," a Brentwood player was heard to say after Game 2--and his words proved prophetic as the Eagles won the third game to stay alive.

The fourth set was back-and-forth, with neither team building a lead greater than three points. Culver City led by one point late in the set when Coach Joe Manzo advised his team not to let up.

"I told them that the game was not over, this team was going to come back and try to beat us," Manzo said during the last timeout."We have a great opportunity to win this match."

Andy Aguila led the Centaurs (16-13-1) with 25 kills, seven solo blocks and 10 digs, Kekoa Matthews added eight kills and eight solo blocks and Alex Aguilera and Morris Ellis each had 19 digs. Aguilera had 39 assists and Connor Finn had six solo blocks and seven digs.

"If you would've told me at the beginning of the day that we would be up 2-1 with a game-point on the line 24-23 with the possibility to win, I wouldn't have believed it," Manzo said. "These kids came and wanted to play and did what they needed to do to win."

The unseeded Centaurs will travel to Yucaipa on Saturday for a 7 p.m. quarterfinal match. The Citrus Belt League champion Thunderbirds (17-1-1) beat Sage Hill in five sets Thursday. 

The winner takes on either Crossroads or No. 2 San Gabriel in the semifinals next Tuesday. 

Baseball

After losing the first game of their home-and-home series with Santa Monica on Tuesday, the Centaurs need to beat the host Vikings on Thursday to gain a share of the Ocean League title. 

Santa Monica (13-16 overall, 10-0 in league) won 7-3 to clinch the outright title. The Centaurs (13-12-1, 8-2) now await their placement in the Southern Section playoffs next week.