By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON — South Effingham won one of three volleyball matches Saturday afternoon during a Region 2-AAAAAA play day and left its gym optimistic.
Effingham County won two of three matches and left the gym heartbroken.
All seven region teams met at SEHS with both the Mustangs and Rebels taking on three Augusta opponents — Lakeside (Evans), Evans and Grovetown.
South (11-10, 2-2) lost to Evans (2-1) and Lakeside (2-0) but a 2-0 win over Grovetown kept the Mustangs in position for a state playoff berth.
ECHS (12-7, 3-1) held off Grovetown and Evans 2-0, but a devastating 2-0 loss to Lakeside most likely ended the Rebels’ dreams of a region championship.
“While we played two good matches and we had a lot of good play, at the end of the day we gave up No. 1,” said ECHS coach Brittany Lein, after the 25-23, 25-13 loss left Lakeside as the only undefeated team in region play.
Along with a coveted region trophy, the region winner will host a state tournament four-team play date with the winner emerging to the state Elite Eight.
So a big jackpot awaited a team that could sweep Saturday and the Rebels were in a favorable position after an impressive 25-5 second-set win to knock off Evans.
But in a showdown with Lakeside, ECHS lost key points down the stretch in the first set which had six lead changes and 13 ties. The Rebels led 23-22 but dropped the final three points to lose the set.
ECHS lost the first eight points to start the second set and fell behind 14-2 before losing 25-13.
“I hope at the end of the day that’s the motivation for (the Rebels) to come out and work harder,” Lein said. “I shouldn’t have to hear from the other coach, ‘That wasn’t your team out there.’ We are having way too many unforced errors. That’s what’s killing us. We’re beating ourselves with inconsistencies. You can’t have this high and then this dramatic low.”
For South, coming off a four-win 2021 season, getting to state has been the modest goal for second-year coach Jenna Gerbasi.
The Mustangs finished their day by playing their best set of the season with an eye-popping 25-2 first-set victory over Grovetown. SEHS won the second set 25-22.
“I thought, finally, we woke up and showed up to play,” Gerbasi said. “I feel like we’ve done a better job of coming out more prepared, myself included. I think we have a good chance of still placing in the top four of our region.”
Gerbasi credited team captain Brianna Phillips with leadership.
“She’s not afraid to make some clutch swings when we need them,” Gerbasi said.
The Mustangs started their day by winning the first set against Evans (25-20), but lost the second set (25-20) and the third (15-11).
SEHS dropped its second match 25-15, 25-15 to Lakeside.
Both the Mustangs and Rebels will finish region play with a trimatch (along with Brunswick) at ECHS on Thursday. If both SEHS and ECHS beat Brunswick, they most likely will be playing for the region’s No. 2 seed at state.
“I think we have a competitive region and it’s really who’s mentally prepared on any given day,” Gerbasi said. “There’s (parity) among the