CORONA — No lead is ever truly safe.
That’s the lesson Centennial girls volleyball coach Joe Schnake and his players learned Tuesday night against Beaumont in a CIF Southern Section Division 2 first-round matchup.
Beaumont made things tough for the Big VIII League champions after the opening set. But the Huskies, behind 12 kills from Asia Udo-Ema, found a way to advance by scores of 25-16, 25-20, and 26-24. Centennial will host Long Beach Poly, a 3-1 winner over Yorba Linda, in Thursday night’s second round.
“I’ll admit that these last couple of years we were not ready when the playoff bell rang but tonight we were, although it was kind of rough in stretches,” Schnake said. “I loved the way that Beaumont played and that they refused to go down without a fight. There are no easy wins in