Culver City High School’s boys volleyball team will play Gahr High in Cerritos tonight at 7 in the second round of the CIF Division 3 playoffs.

In their first round match on Tuesday, the Centaurs beat Cate High from Carpinteria 3-0 inside the Del Goodyear gym on campus. All three matches were close as the Centaurs raised their record to 18-12.

Ben Arena led Culver City with nine kills and eight blocks. Tyler Nakamoto had eight kills and 134 assists, Kyle Johnson and Ryan Allison each had seven kills, and Sean Lee had 17 digs.

Rounding out the stars of the night, John Cummings had 19 assists and Devon Osborne contributed five blocks.

“We played pretty well, but we have to close out games,” said Nakamoto.  “We let teams back into games because we get  comfortable when we have big leads.”

Johnson, a two-sport star who is the best basketball player in the school, hopes to get another shot at top-ranked El Segundo.  The Eagles beat the Centaurs twice this season in Ocean League play.   “It feels good to get a playoff win,” Johnson said. “We are hoping to get a rematch against El Segundo and try to win a CIF championship.”

Coach Joe Manzo said his players have been building big leads in matches and then growing too comfortable. “We have been making too many mistakes,” said Manzo.  “We need to eliminate those mistakes,” he said.

On the plus side, “this team really enjoys each other.  If we play well, we can fight our way to the finals.”

Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com