After winning the Ocean League championship, Culver City High’s girls’ volleyball team is on the right path as the top seed of the CIF-Southern Section Division IIIAA playoffs after sweeping home victories last week over Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World and Moreno Valley Valley View high schools.
After a first round bye, the Lady Centaurs automatically advanced to the second round of the playoffs but had to take on an always tough Rim of the World squad that won the IIIAA crown last season but lost its starters and hired a new coach in a rebuilding season.
After a slow start in the first set, last Thursday, Culver rallied to win the set enroute to a 26-24, 25-15, 25-22 sweep of the Fighting Scots. That gave the Centaurs the home court advantage in their quarterfinal against Valley View High and they easily disposed the Eagles by 25-19, 25-13, 25-18 scores, last Saturday.
That set the stage for Tuesday’s semifinal three miles north up Sawtelle to No. 4 seed Windward High in Mar Vista last Tuesday. A Culver City win puts the Lady Centaurs in this Saturday’s final at Santiago Canyon College in Orange to shoot for its first CIF championship.
Against Valley View, junior outside hitter-middle blocker Taylor Selfridge sparked the Centaurs (26-6 overall) with 16 kills, 25 digs, three ace serves and three blocks. Cassidy Paperny added 13 kills and six blocks. Monica Patton dished out 35 assists. Lindsey Tanita contributed 12 digs and three blocks. Megan Yoon dug out 26, and McKenna Maxwell had four blocks.
Selfridge also sparked Culver with 13 kills and 37 digs in its win over Rim of the World. Paperny tallied 14 kills and Patton had 31 assists and 13 digs.
“Rim of the World was a real good team,” head Centaur coach Joe Manzo said. “Our defense was stronger.”
Paperny added, “In the beginning, we got off to a kind of slow start. We got together and played our game. I’m real proud.”
In the first set, the Scots started out with leads of 4-0 and 6-2, before Culver regrouped to pull it out.
The Scots continued to fight well in the third game but the Centaurs held them off.
