By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
It’s always nice to get a compliment from your family.
Effingham County’s volleyball team rolled over Glynn Academy 2-0 (25-11, 25-16) on Aug. 23 in the Region 2-AAAAAA opener for both teams and Rebels coach Brittany Lein reaped some unexpected praise.
“My own father said we looked like a well-oiled machine,” Lein said.
South Effingham turned in a similar purring performance while also defeating the Red Terrors 2-1. It was the Mustangs’ first win over Glynn since 2018.
In the final match Thursday, ECHS defeated South 25-13, 25-17 in a non-region contest. The teams’ region match is Sept. 15.
“I think we were fired up for (Thursday),” Lein said. “We talked about from here on out these are the games that are going to count and how important it was to come out and play hard. We had a lot of girls on that night and it was a good way to start region play.”
A year ago, ECHS lost a regular-season, non-region match to Glynn and trailed 2-1 to the Terrors in the region tournament before winning the final two sets.
For South, beating Glynn provided a signature moment for the program under second-year coach Jenna Gerbasi. The Mustangs, who won only four times last season, dropped three matches to the Red Terrors a year ago. Heading into a weekend tournament, South already had three wins this season.
In the ECHS-SEHS meeting, Lein said her squad began to sputter in the second set, but a timeout seemed to put the Rebels back on a winning course.
“It’s always fun when you’re playing in the county rivalry game,” Lein said. “We had some adversity in the second game, but we called timeout and the girls got back in the right mindset. I still think we have a lot of room for improvement. We have more potential that we need to tap into.”
ECHS (9-3, 1-0) has won five matches in a row heading into Thursday’s trimatch in Springfield with St. Vincent’s and Savannah Arts. The Rebels lost earlier meetings with the Saints and Panthers.
COLLEGE
Ex-ECHS standout questionable for SSU football opener
Former Effingham County standout wide receiver Randy Scott’s playing status is questionable for Savannah State’s opener Saturday night against Southeastern University.
Scott suffered a leg injury while working out in Springfield during the summer and has been undergoing rehab during the preseason.
Scott, a sophomore, is expected to be a key component in the Tigers’ offense, which was changed from an option attack to a multiple spread by first-year coach Aaron Kelton.
The SSU-Southeastern game should interest county football followers. South Effingham’s Makenly Newbill, an All-SIAC first-team performer, is expected to start at defensive end.
Locals Cameron Edwards (South Effingham) and Khiry Wallace (Effingham County) signed with Tigers last spring.
CROSS COUNTRY
SEHS’ Phillips places first at Whitesburg
South Effingham junior Tyler Phillips captured first place in the varsity boys second race at the Bob Blastow Invitational at the McIntosh Nature Preserve in Whitesburg on Saturday.
Phillips finished with a time of 16:18.34 on the five-kilometer course as the Mustangs placed 11th among 21 teams in their race.
Junior Lily McDonald ran a 21:08.88 and finished 11th to lead the SEHS girls to a fifth-place showing in their 12-team competition.
Rounding out the Mustangs’ top five boys scorers were Julian Howard (6th, 17:04.56), Zane Bell (74th, 18:59.64), Domenic Harrison (112th, 20:02.80) and Cesar Martinez (118th, 20:16.64)
For the SEHS girls, Magdalene Morgan (30th, 21:59.83), Patricia Backlund (39th, 22:42.22), Mia Fitzpatrick (51st, 23:10.27) and Brianna Barber (56th, 23:23.23) scored team points.
