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ECHS, SEHS volleyball teams look to advance to state
ECHS Volleyball seniors
Lady Rebels honored their senior players (from left) Anaysia Williams, Chelsea Dennis, Lydia Miller, and Murphy Boyett, on Senior Night. (Photo by Christy Sanders/Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

 

SPRINGFIELD – Teams will have a lot to play for at the Region 2-6A volleyball championships at Grovetown High School on Oct. 14.

South Effingham (18-14) enters the seven-team, double-elimination tournament as a No. 3 seed. Effingham County (22-12) is a No. 4 seed.

But how you start isn't always how you finish.

The top four teams at region advance to the Class 6A state tournament, which starts Oct. 17-18. The top two get first-round home matches. Third and fourth place teams travel.

SEHS meets No. 6 Brunswick (13-12) in the first round of the region tournament. ECHS opens with No. 5 Grovetown (13-28).

"The goal is you want to win the whole thing, as difficult as that sounds," Mustangs coach Heywood Ellison said.

It sounds difficult because Class 6A's third-ranked Lakeside (35-3) resided at the top of the region this season after winning all six regular-season region games without losing a set.

But Lakeside was in a similar position last season and lost twice at the region tournament and finished third. Glynn started as the No. 5 seed and placed second.

ECHS, a No. 2 seed, lost to Glynn earlier in the day, but came out of the losers' bracket to beat Lakeside and then Glynn in a rematch to win the region title.

"We weren't picked to win last year, but we were in a little better position than this year," Rebels coach Brittany Lein said. "It's fun to say we're the (defending) region champions and we know what it takes, but we're only bringing two or three girls back (who saw considerable playing time) who did that."

One of the 2022 stars, all-around senior Murphy Boyett has been having an outstanding season for ECHS. Boyett, a big hitter from the outside, leads the team with 173 kills.

The Rebels have won eight of their last 10 matches. In one of the losses, they took a set from Savannah Arts, one of the top teams in the area. ECHS has beaten St. Vincent's and played Richmond Hill competitively.

"We have a lot of youth and they're developing," Lein said. "We've worked on executing and the pursuit of the ball. Those are things we need to win. I think they understand the importance of Saturday."

Heywood Ellison
South Effingham volleyball coach Heywood Ellison (left) talks strategy with middle blocker Clara Vorel before an Aug. 22 match with Effingham County. The Mustangs and Rebels will be shooting for high finishes at the Region 2-6A Volleyball Championships on Saturday. (Donald Heath for the Effingham Herald.)
SEHS finished fourth at region last season and advanced to the state playoffs – a lofty accomplishment for a team that won just four matches the previous year.

Ellison called his 2023 Mustangs "a Jekyll and Hyde team." It lost its first meeting with Effingham County 2-1, but won the match that counted in region play 2-0.

Sophomore Clara Vorel, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker with 205 kills, and junior setter Riley Stringer have been keys to the team's fortunes.

"We all saw what happened last year," Ellison said. "We feel like we have the skills, we just have to be consistent. I think the girls are excited about the opportunity."