Top performances: Islands' Sierzant and Fischer of St. Vincent's reach career milestones
THE MOMENT: @veronicasierza1 gets her 1,000 career kill. Big things in store for the @CuseVB commit. @WJCLNews @Islands_Sharks pic.twitter.com/U8H1C0rEGY
— Amy Zimmer (@AmyZimmerWJCL) September 28, 2022
It was a meeting of two of the top volleyball teams in the Coastal Empire as St. Vincent's Academy visited Islands High School in a non-region matchup on Sept. 27 that turned into a showcase of individual achievement as two players reached career milestones.
Islands senior Veronica Sierzant notched her 1,000th career kill and SVA junior Mary Sophia Fischer dished out her 1,000th career assist.
How former BC backup earned starting QB job at national juco power: He never started a high school game. Now, this former Savannah-area QB leads a JUCO power
Wednesday night lights football roundup: What happened when former Georgia Southern teammates met as coaches of Country Day and Beach
Calvary, Savannah Christian looked poised for playoff runs: Calvary Day and Savannah Christian already look playoff ready after hard-fought rivalry clash
St. Vincent's, ranked No. 9 among Class 3A teams in the state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, swept Islands, ranked seventh in Class 4A, in two sets.
Fischer dished out her milestone assist for the first point of the game for SVA (21-10, 6-0 in region play). The Saints got excellent play from Mattie Lynch, Caroline Ryan, Alana Beddow and Belle Jackson in the win.
"I knew I was getting close (to 1,000 assists), but I thought I had a few more games to get there," Fischer said. "It was even more special because I was setting one of my best friends, Mattie (Lynch), and she got the kill. I was surprised when our team started cheering and our coach (Nichols St. Louis) had a golden volleyball they gave to me — so that made it even more special.
"I think we played our best match of the year to beat Islands. Playing against Veronica (Sierzant) is always hard because she is such a powerhouse. But everyone played so well, we were fighting and not letting anything hit the floor."
Top high school football coaches in Savannah area history: Who are the best high school football coaches in the history of Savannah-area schools?
St. Vincent's is set to host Long County and Savannah Christian in a tri-match Monday, Oct. 3. The SCPS match is set for 6 p.m., followed by the Long County match.
Sierzant, who has committed to play at Syracuse, reached the second leg of her own personal Triple Crown when she knocked home a kill off a set from Aislinn Lanigan.
The senior, who has for the past two years won the Hollis Stacy Award as the most versatile female high school athlete in Savannah, set a goal a couple of years ago to reach the milestone of 1,000 career points and rebounds in basketball and 1,000 kills in volleyball. All she needs now is her 1,000th rebound. She's about 200 away once basketball season starts.
"I think getting 1,000 kills meant the most to me of those three," Sierzant said. "You have to average about 15-20 kills per match to get there, so it's a big accomplishment. I couldn't have done it without my teammates and coaches. It was great that Aislinn (Lanigan) had the set for it. It was a fun celebration."
It was just the fourth loss of the season for Islands (21-4).
"We didn't play our best against St. Vincent's," Sierzant said. "But we'll be ready to bounce back through the end of the regular season and in the playoffs."
— Savannah Country Day beat Effingham County 25-15, 26-24 on Sept. 27 behind strong performances by seniors Mason Howington, Fiona Wilson and Alli Buckler as the Hornets improved to 12-14 on the season.
Top performances: How Richmond Hill has become one of top volleyball teams in Savannah area
Preview: The top cross country runners to watch in the Greater Savannah area for the 2022 season
Cross country
Savannah Arts senior Margaret Wade ran a blistering 17:37.12 for a personal best in the 5K to finish second at the Asics Invitational championship race Saturday in Fairburn.
It was the best time by a female runner in Georgia this year, across all classifications.
Jillian Cadelino of The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, won the race in 17:16.23.
Ava Coffey of Savannah Arts finished 25th in 18:51.98
— Savannah Christian hosted the Raider Invitational on Thursday. John Ryan of Savannah Country Day won the boys race with a time of 16:22.29 on the 5-kilometer course to edge Benedictine sophomore John Dodson, who was second in 16:26.75.
Habersham sophomore Nicholas Aldrich (16:58.82) was third and his classmate Henry Brooks was eighth in 17:52.84.
Leo Tedder of Jenkins finished fourth in 16:59.41, with JT Gard of Savannah Christian fifth in 17:30.37. Caleb Smith of Islands was sixth in 17:34.13, with Calvary Day's Jackson Jones (17:36.74) in seventh.
In the girls race, Wade was the winner with a time of 19:24.89, with Coffey (19:29.52) finishing second. Teammate Elle Harward-Grant (20:57.88) took seventh place.
Sarah Jane Schulze of Savannah Country Day was eighth in 20:58.40, followed by Kya Bonds of Islands (21:25.24) and Ileana Scorza of St. Vincent's (22:05.24) in ninth and 10th places.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: H.S. volleyball: Sierzant, Fischer reach milestones
