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SEHS volleyball advances to Elite Eight with heartwarming victory
Coach Ellison celebrates
Head Coach Heywood Ellison celebrates as Lady Mustangs rush to the court after the win. (Photo by Birk Herrath/Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

 

South Effingham usually breaks down its team huddle with its volleyball players yelling in unison, "South Effingham!"

Mustangs coach Heywood Ellison said in the third set against Veterans High School on Saturday his players adopted a new cry for togetherness, "Riley!"

South's highly regarded setter Riley Stringer suffered a sprained ankle and was lost for the match against Veterans, but her teammates rallied around her absence to score a heart-warming 3-1 victory to advance to the Class 6A Elite Eight state championships for the first time since 2017.

The Mustangs (25-16) hosted Blessed Trinity (21-18) on Oct. 24. A win will send the Mustangs to Jonesboro (a neutral site) on Saturday for a match between the winner of Marist-Pope.

"Blessed Trinity is an outstanding team and playing them without Riley will be a tall task," Ellison said. "But at this time of the year, you're going to be playing great teams. The bad teams don't make it this far."

South has been all about accomplishing tall tasks for the past two seasons. The Mustangs improved from four wins in 2021 to 20 last season and 25 this year.

They beat Effingham County twice, a stumbling block in recent years, finished second in Region 2 and knocked off 24-4 Morrow in the first round of the state tournament.

Then they took down 30-8-3 Veterans, the champion of Region 1.

"It's pretty insane. It's just me and Bri Coffee from that team two years ago," said Stringer after the 3-0 victory over Morrow on

Clara Vorel
No. 17 Clara Vorel makes the powerful slam over the net with the Lady Mustangs up 10-4 early in Game 2. (Photo by Gilbert Miller/Effingham Herald.)
Oct. 17. "We have all these girls who are ambitious and want to win. That helped make the transformation."

A heavy dose of heart and determination has been instrumental as well.

Ellison said he was without his backup setter Leah Magana against Veterans as well.

But Veterans couldn't slow down these newcomers on their path to the Elite Eight.

Ellison inserted junior varsity libero Lauren Olson to setter and the back line defense teamed to set up the powerful frontline led by Clara Vorel.

South lost the first set to Veterans 25-15, but won the next three, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-22. Stringer was hurt in the third set.

"It was an emotional match and we had a lot go against us, but I can't say enough about this team," Ellison said. "They've grown up in just the last few weeks."

Enough to challenge Blessed Trinity, the No. 10 team in Class 6A according to pre-state tournament rankings by Score-Atlanta.

Trinity was the No. 4 seed from Region 7, which includes the state's Nos. 1-3 teams – Alpharetta, Pope, and Johns Creek.

In a matchup with a Lowcountry power, Blessed Trinity defeated Richmond Hill 2-1 during the regular season.

"We always say if you can play with the three E's – energy, effort, and execution – you can accomplish anything," Ellison said.

 

ECHS ends season at Woodward Academy

Effingham County, a No. 4 seed from Region 2, saw its volleyball season end with a 0-3 setback at Woodward Academy in the first round of the Class 6A state championships.

The Rebels finished with a 25-15 record. Woodward was still alive heading into Elite Eight playoff action.