GUYTON / SPRINGFIELD Ga. — South Effingham’s volleyball players were all smiles after mounting a stunning rally Wednesday night in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.
Fourteen miles away, a seismic fall left Effingham County’s players in tears.
The Mustangs (39-10) defeated Apalachee 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-19) to advance to second-round action against No. 8 Milton on Saturday in Guyton.
Effingham County (20-22) saw its Cinderella season strike midnight in a 3-2 loss (28-26, 25-16, 21-25, 15-25, 13-15) to Habersham Central.
“Energy is really big in this game,” South Effingham middle blocker Clara Vorel said. “If one team has more energy, they get up.”
Little did Vorel know her statement rang true for both local matches.
The Mustangs, the Region 1 champions, were pushed by upset-minded Apalachee and trailed 17-9 in the fourth set before reeling off 14 straight points.
Rebels’ dream run ends in heartbreak
In Springfield, the Rebels led 2-0 in the best-of-five match and held an 18-16 lead in the third set. They were up 13-12 in the race to 15 in the fifth.
Early on, Effingham County — still riding high from a second-place finish in the Region 1 tournament five days earlier — couldn’t do much wrong.
The Rebels staved off three set points in the opener to win, and behind the hitting of Clarissa Salcido (16 kills) and Jordyn Powell (13 kills), along with the setting of Brynley Jordan and Charlotte Shearouse, seemed poised to avenge last season’s Sweet 16 loss to the Raiders.
Then the energy shifted.
“We went from killing it to making too many errors on our side,” ECHS coach Brittany Lein said. “Knowing the young talent we have on this team, we came far.
“For the girls, they’ll see where we fell short and where they have to step up. They’ll see what it takes now. It was a good run.”
Mustangs find their rhythm
The senior-laden Mustangs know something about big runs after reaching the Elite Eight in 2023. Last year, they didn’t even qualify for state.
South Effingham didn’t panic Wednesday despite falling behind 17-9 in the fourth set.
“They’re rallying around each other,” Mustangs coach Haywood Ellison said. “They understand what’s ahead and what happened last year. They don’t want that feeling again. We kind of avenged that at the region tournament, and now they’re playing free. Even in that fourth set, in the huddle I told them we’re not going to get 25 points in one play. It’s one play at a time.”
Fourteen one-plays later, South held a 23-17 lead. Anna Kate Taylor did the serving, and Vorel — a 6-foot-4 middle blocker committed to Towson — did the hitting.
Ellison said Apalachee tried to block Vorel with three players. Next time, maybe they’ll try all six.
Eyes on the Elite Eight
The Mustangs have won 30 of their last 32 matches and climbed to No. 10 in ScoreAtlanta’s Class 5A rankings.
“Keep going, push hard — we want to go all the way,” Vorel said of the team’s approach.
“It feels a little different than two years ago,” Ellison said. “That year we caught lightning in a bottle, and I think we surprised some teams. Nobody’s surprised this year.”
