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Garden Grove boys volleyball loses to Culver City in 5 sets in Division 6 final

May 17, 2026

NORWALK — The CIF Southern Section Division 6 boys volleyball final featured two teams that were each seeking the first title in program history.

Garden Grove rallied from losing the first two sets and forced a fifth set, but the Argonauts wound up losing to Culver City, 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-9, on Saturday afternoon at Cerritos College.

Garden Grove coach Frankie Perales pointed to the first set as the key moment in the match. The Argonauts had set point with a lead of 24-20 but were unable to secure the win.

“I think that was the difference today,” Perales sad. “I think we… if we would have closed it out, we would have won, but that’s just how volleyball is.”

“And the other team did a great job,” he added, “you know, playing defensively and getting the ball back to us and letting us make the mistakes.”

The Centaurs closed the opening set with a 7-1 run to steal the game.

“That was definitely a point for us to let them know that this game’s never over until we push ourselves to be the best we can,” Culver City coach Joe Manzo said. “We caught up. They made some mistakes towards the end of that first set, and we got a good big break with an overpass, and our big #1, Mason Boyd, slamming it down for a game winner.”

Sophomore outside hitter Ken Hasegawa had a team-high 17 kills for Culver City and Boyd, a sophomore middle blocker, added 16 kills for the Centaurs.

Garden Grove (20-16) also dropped the second set before finding its rhythm in the third and fourth sets.

“They actually took us out of system quite a bit in that first set, and I think we came out flat,” Perales said. “So I don’t know if it was the pressure, you know, of being in the finals, but it took us a little while to get going. And once we got going, it went really well, but that last set, we just let it slip.”

The Argonauts were led by Paul Le, who had a team-high 17 kills. Aaron Nguyen added 12 kills and Alvin Bui finished with 10 kills.

Casey Brennan had 48 assists and 16 digs for Culver City (22-6). Manzo credited Brennan with being the catalyst in the decisive fifth set.

“Casey Brennan’s defense is what won it for us,” Manzo said. “Because his hands and his distribution are a key factor, but his defense won game five for us. That’s what it was.”

Perales, who guided the Argonauts to the section finals in 2014 and 2018, said this was the best team he has ever coached.

“I think that’s what made the season so amazing,” he said, “was that, you know, they had heart, they had fight … but the main thing is we were a family.”

“Other years, we’ve had some great athletes, but this year, we had some great chemistry, some great teamwork with each other,” he added. “Synergy, the synergy was there, but we just fell short. I love these kids. These kids are amazing kids.”

Orange County Register

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Garden Grove boys volleyball loses to Culver City in 5 sets in Division 6 final

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