By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – For a year, Effingham County smarted from the effects of two volleyball losses to county rival South Effingham. Tuesday, the Rebels got some revenge.

ECHS won the big points down the stretch in both sets and claimed a tightly contested 2-0 victory (25-21, 25-23) over the host Mustangs.

Both teams defeated Bryan County 2-0 in opening games in the tri-match.

The ECHS-SEHS matchup didn’t count in the standings because the two schools now reside in different subregions, but the rivalry remains just as intense as ever.

The first set was tied at 21 before the Rebels won the final four points. South ran off six straight points to tie the second set 23-23, but Bella Teston began ECHS’ two-point finish with a kill attempt that hit the net, rolled along the tape and fell on the Mustangs’ side for a winner.

“We needed this win as a boost of confidence,” Rebels coach Brittany Lein said. “This told the girls, ‘We can hang and when we play like this, we can do great things.’ ”

SEHS coach Haywood Ellison said Stringer would be kept out of the team’s weekend tournament at North Forsyth. The Mustangs hope to have Stringer back for their key subregion matchup with undefeated Glynn Academy on Thursday in Brunswick.

Stringer and her sister Morgan, a sophomore, led an opening 8-1 spurt against the Rebels. Riley served five straight points and Morgan had two kills during the run.

It was a reminder of the firepower SEHS used to trip ECHS in the regular season and in the region tournament last season – the Mustangs’ first wins over the Rebels since 2020.

South’s region tournament win pushed ECHS down to a No. 4 seed and gave the Rebels a first-round state matchup with Woodward Academy, one of the top teams in Class 6A.

Coming into Tuesday’s play, ECHS had a 5-5 record but the losses came against highly regarded Glynn Academy (twice, both 2-1), St. Vincent’s (twice) and Class 3A ranked Richmond Academy.

Lein decided to switch some things in the lineup, finding more playing time for outside hitter Alaina San Juan and starting Teston on the frontline.

“My offensive players are playing scrappy defensively,” Lein said. “I need people who are going to dive on the floor and that’s what we’re doing now and it looks great.”

ECHS backline, led by Bella Scroggs and Bella Giaquinto, had one of its best games of the season defensively. Teston and San Juan had five kills apiece.

South stayed within striking distance most of the night. ECHS never had more than a two-point lead in the first set until its final four-point spurt.

Morgan Stringer, who finished with six kills, had two kills and a block during the Mustangs’ 6-0 run that tied the second set at 23.

Clara Vorel also added six kills.

“We’re still trying to find the exact offense that’s going to work for 25 points,” Ellison said. “We played well in spurts. This is a good matchup to show us how hard we have to work. (ECHS) turned it up a notch. You can’t think just because you did something last year, you’re going to duplicate it this year. That’s been my message during the entire offseason.”

In a subregion crossover on Aug. 22, Effingham County (9-8, 1-2) couldn’t continue its momentum, beating Evans (2-0) but falling to Lakeside Evans (2-1) and Greenbrier (2-0).

On Saturday, SEHS (3-9, 0-0) lost four matches in the Coal Mountain Classic at North Forsyth High School in Cummings – to North Forsyth (2-0), Walton (2-0), Heritage (2-1) and Savannah Arts (2-1).