By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

Local volleyball teams were well represented when coaches announced subregion postseason honors last week.

Class 5A Region 1 was split into North and South subregions – Effingham County playing in the North and South Effingham in the South – and each named an all-subregion team.

Voting was done by subregion coaches for their subregion.

In the South subregion, SEHS’ middle blocker Clara Vorel captured Player of the Year honors and her teammate libero Iracena Manlove was the Defensive Player of the Year.

In the North subregion, ECHS’ all-around Bella Teston earned Offensive Player of the Year and teammate libero Bella Scroggs notched Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Mustangs Riley Stringer, Vorel and Manlove made first-team All-South subregion. Morgan Stringer and Leah Magana made the second team and Anna Kate Taylor was an honorable mention.

The North subregion approached its all-subregion team slightly differently and athletes who were named players of the year were not placed on the first team.

Rebels Bentley Braswell, Kimber Michaelis and Jordyn Powell made first-team all-subregion. Bella Giaquinto was second-team all-subregion and Emily Perkins was an honorable mention.

For the second straight season, Vorel dominated the middle to earn a top honor. Last season, she was the region’s defensive player of the year. This season, the 6-foot-3 junior registered 244 kills and 60 blocks while leading the Mustangs to a 21-16 record and first place in the South subregion.

Her .515 hitting percentage ranked second in the state, according to MaxPreps. 

“When nothing is going right, just get her the ball,” SEHS coach Haywood Ellison said. “I think Clara was the best overall player in the entire region. She was the one people had to game plan against.”

“She really stabilized our back row,” Ellison said. “She has great range and is defensively sound.”

Riley Stringer, a senior, did a little bit of everything while producing 263 assists, 138 digs and 119 kills. Ellison called her “a coach on the floor.” 

Her sister Morgan Stringer, a sophomore, added 131 kills. Magana, a sophomore, emerged as a dependable setter with a team-leading 289 assists, allowing Ellison to move Riley Stringer to an outside hitter to strengthen the team.

Taylor recorded 94 kills while playing steady as an outside hitter.

For Effingham County, having seven players on the North’s all-subregion team was a testament to a 30-16 record and advancement to the Class 5A Sweet Sixteen at state.

The Rebels set a school single-season record with 30 wins and reeled off a school-record 10 straight victories toward the end of the regular season.

Teston, a senior, was a central figure in the success. She recorded team-leading numbers with 293 kills and 437 service receptions and added 44 blocks.

“Coaches usually use stats in votings but I was excited that all the coaches agreed she deserved (the offensive player of the year honor),” Rebels coach Brittany Lein said. “It definitely helps when a player plays all-around.”

Scroggs was a three-year starter who topped the 1,000 mark in career digs after registering 359 as a senior.

“Bella was in the running for defensive player last year,” Lein said. “I kept reminding her this is what you’re working toward and she stayed focused.”

Braswell, a senior setter, also broke the 1,000 mark in assists after recording 543 this season. She also had 300 digs.

Michaelis, a senior, was a force on the frontline with 264 kills and a team-leading 47 blocks. She also led the team with 72 service aces.

Powell, a sophomore, added 215 kills on the frontline. Perkins had 170 kills as an outside hitter. Giaquinto, a junior defensive specialist, had 216 digs.

“I was proud of all the girls,” Lein said. “I don’t dive into stats during the season, but I’ll look at them after the season. Their individual stats were all great.”