By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
SAVANNAH – Effingham County’s Bella Teston was productive as an outside hitter, but her recent move to the middle has the Rebels playing their best volleyball of the season.
Teston had 12 kills against West Laurens Sept. 4 and added seven against Islands as ECHS swept the two matches – 25-10, 25-23 over West Laurens and 25-16, 25-20 over Islands – to extend their winning streak to a season-high four matches.
“She’s just playing some great volleyball,” Rebels coach Brittany Lein said. “She’s playing well all the way around. Moving her to the middle just gave us more versatility.”
Teston is only 5-foot-9, but she jumps well and plays aggressively. Her 93 kills led the Rebels through 17 matches.
And the senior has a knack for scoring key points. In the second set against West Laurens, Teston hit winners for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th points as the Rebels took the set 25-23.
She finished the 23rd and 25th points in the second set against Islands.
“We stress to the girls we don’t want to rally with teams. We want to put the ball down,” Lein said.
ECHS (12-8, 2-2) has a big week ahead, traveling to Savannah for a non-region match with St. Vincent’s. The Rebels will host subregion-leading Lakeside, Evans along with Savannah Arts on Thursday.
SOFTBALL
SEHS continues to roll in subregion
South Effingham’s girls continued their subregion dominance by sweeping a doubleheader from Brunswick 10-0 and 10-0 last Thursday.
The Mustangs (9-2, 5-0 Region 1 (South)-5A) have won eight games in a row and have outscored their subregion opponents 66-1.
In Game 1, freshman Sydney Minshall had two hits and drove in three runs and sophomore Danni Lynn added two hits and two RBIs.
Rosie Dixon pitched four scoreless innings and Kelsee Collins finished the shutout with a scoreless fifth.
In Game 2, Alyssa Martin drove in five runs and Izzy Wilkins had three doubles and drove in two. Wilkins was also the winning pitcher, allowing just two hits while striking out six in five innings.
South steps away from subregion play this week and should be tested Sept. 9 against 4A’s sixth-ranked Wayne County. The Mustangs will play at Savannah Christian on Wednesday (Sept. 11) and travel to Grovetown on Saturday for games with Alcovy and 16-1 Grovetown.
ECHS extends winning streak to 6
Effingham County raised its record to 8-2 after wins against Statesboro (8-0) and Richmond Hill (4-2) last week.
The 10th-ranked Rebels extended their winning streak to six games but it hasn’t been easy. Two wins were by one run and two were by two. ECHS beat Glynn Academy 4-2 in nine innings.
The Rebels open subregion play this week with a three-game set against Lakeside Evans. Game 1 was Sept. 10 in Springfield before traveling to Evans for a doubleheader Wednesday (Sept. 11).
CROSS COUNTRY
SEHS gets chance to run on state course
South Effingham’s Ben Fluegel registered a time of 17:16.34 to place 13th last Saturday at the Carrollton Invitational presented by OrthoWest 2024.
Natalia Melegari paced the Mustang girls with a time of 22:02.30 to place 31st.
The meet gave athletes a chance to run the state course in Carrollton.
Teamwise, the SEHS boys finished 36th among 44 teams. The girls were 14th among 34 teams.
Here are runners who scored points for the Mustangs:
SEHS boys – Ben Fluegel (17:16.34, 13th place), Nathaniel West (20:09.01, 174th), Mayson Young (21:38.17, 241st), Adam Hardeman (23:55.19, 281st) and Dixon Kicklighter (25:30.19, 294th).
SEHS girls – Natalia Melegari (22:02.30, 31st place), Lydia Alderman (23:24.74, 78th), Rebecca Long (23:29.61, 81st), Patricia Backlund (23:38.70, 91st) and Brenna Kicklighter (23:56.54, 106th).
ECHS’ Esco, Adkins run away with Catch’em Challenge
Effingham County’s Joseph Esco and Chloe Adkins had first-place finishes Saturday at the Jackets Catch’em Challenge in Evans County.
Esco posted a time of 18:18.3 as the boys winner. Adkins ran a 20:46.4 to win the girls race.
Here are the Rebels’ scorers:
ECHS boys – Joseph Esco (18:18.3, 1st), Ethan Hankins (21:39.2, 13th), Noah Mordarski (21:47.9, 14th), Orion Dagin (22:00.8, 15th) and Cohlin Croy (22:03.6, 16th).
ECHS girls – Chloe Adkins (20:46.4, 1st), Abigail Williamson (24:49.4, 4th), Lisette Ablahwa (34:10.8, 15th), Kahliyah Palmer (39:16.2, 20th) and Joslynn Valdera-Pujols (39:38.3, 21st).