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South Effingham Volleyball Falls to McIntosh in State Quarterfinals
Volleyball
South Effingham players hustle for a point during the Class 5A state quarterfinal match against McIntosh. The Mustangs capped their season as one of the final eight teams in Georgia. (Courtesy of Fayette County News)

PEACHTREE CITY — South Effingham’s outstanding volleyball season came to an end Wednesday night with a 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-18, 25-15) to McIntosh in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

It was the second time in three years the Mustangs finished among the final eight teams in the state tournament.

This season, South (40-11) won 31 of its last 34 matches, captured the Region 1 championship, and defeated Apalachee and Milton in the state playoffs. Score Atlanta ranked the Mustangs No. 10 in its pre-playoff rankings.

But McIntosh — the Region 3 champion and No. 3 team in the state — never allowed South to gain momentum. Although the Mustangs stayed within striking distance most of the way, they didn’t hold a lead until the first two points of the third set.

Morgan Stringer led South with 13 kills, while Clara Vorel, who is committed to Towson, added 12.

“That’s the best team we’ve played all season, and talking to the McIntosh coach (Kurt Lewis) after the game, he said that was his team’s best game they’ve played all season,” SEHS coach Haywood Ellison said.

The first set featured seven ties, the last at 11-11. The Chiefs (40-9) scored four straight points and the Mustangs couldn’t quite recover, getting as close as 18-17 after a Stringer kill. SEHS trailed just 22-20 after a Vorel kill but couldn’t get any closer.

In the second set, McIntosh jumped out to a 9-4 lead before the Mustangs rallied to tie it at 15 after a block by Hayden Johanson. The Chiefs, who passed the ball effectively side to side along the front line and even set the ball backward for attacks from the back row, then scored five straight points to pull away.

In the third set, South scored the first two points for its first lead of the match. The Mustangs’ last lead came at 6-5 after another Stringer kill. It was tied at 11-11 after a Vorel kill before McIntosh went on a 14-4 run to close it out, prompting its fans to rush the court in celebration.

The Chiefs, who won the 2023 state championship and are seeking their sixth title since 2017, advanced to the Class 5A semifinals at Providence Christian.

“We knew we had to play at a high level to beat them,” Ellison said. “I thought we played well. Every point we had to work for. I told my girls, ‘You can’t hang your heads. You’ve changed the program around.’”