How Veronica Sierzant of Islands became the fifth athlete to win the Hollis Stacy Award twice
Last year, Veronica Sierzant of Islands High School made history as the first sophomore, and the first from her school, to win the Hollis Stacy Award as the most versatile female high school athlete in Savannah.
On Thursday, Sierzant found out her name will be engraved on the prestigious trophy once again, as the standout junior was named the winner of the the 30th annual Hollis Stacy Award.
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The award, started in 1993 by the late Gary Moses, is given to a female high school athlete who plays at least three sports for her high school. The award is voted on by athletic directors from the public and private high schools in Savannah, and local media. Gary Moses' daughter, Leslie, is now coordinating the award.
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Johnson senior Amani Hamilton, a standout in basketball, volleyball and track and field, finished second in the voting.
Sierzant has played four sports for the last two years for the Sharks. The 6-foot-3 standout stars on the court in volleyball and basketball, while playing for both the soccer and track and field teams concurrently during the spring season.
"I got a message from Miss (Leslie) Moses, and when I called her and she told me that I won, I was speechless," said Sierzant, who also carries a 4.0 GPA. "Last year I was crying when I found out, but this year was different. I'm really excited because I know there aren't many girls who have won it twice, so I felt like I accomplished something special."
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She became the fifth local athlete to win the award twice, joining Catherine Booker of Savannah Country Day (1995 and 1996), Lizzie Sprague of Savannah Country Day (2003 and 2004), Chandler Ewaldsen of Savannah Christian (2013 and 2014) and Sarah Stewart of St. Vincent's (2016 and 2017). Sierzant will have a chance to become the first three-time winner as a senior next year.
Sierzant was a first-team All-Greater Savannah selection this year in volleyball and basketball, with the Player of the Year in those sports to be announced at the Coastal Empire High School Sports Awards show set for June 10 at the Johnny Mercer Theatre.
In volleyball, Sierzant had 403 kills, 44 aces, 175 digs, 255 serves received and 18 blocks as she helped lead the Sharks to the Region 3-4A title and to the Class 4A quarterfinals. She has volleyball scholarship offers from Illinois, Butler and UNC Greensboro.
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"It's a coach's dream to coach someone like Veronica," Islands volleyball coach Jessica Decker said. "She is truly the type of scholar-athlete every coach would love to have. She is dedicated, talented, a very good person and a great leader — everything you want wrapped into one. She knows volleyball so well, that she can guide her teammates and be a leader on the court.
"She keeps her composure and knows how important the mental aspect of the game is."
Sierzant also was dominant in basketball as she averaged 21.6 points, 17.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.0 steals and four blocks per game. Her 17.6 rebounds per game ranked ninth in the entire nation among all classifications according to Maxpreps.com, and she was named the Region 3-4A Player of the Year.
"What impresses me most about Veronica is her 100% dedication to every minor detail in each sport she plays," Islands girls basketball coach Jamie Salas said. "She'll come to basketball practice wanting to show me some new trick she learned about setting in volleyball. She just feeds off those kind of things.
"This year she got more aggressive and used her size, along with understanding angles, to add about seven rebounds per game. She learned to used her size and strength more to her advantage. She's an incredible athlete."
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In soccer, she was a standout defender and midfielder on the Islands team that won a region title and advanced to the Class 4A Sweet 16 in the state playoffs. In track and field, she won the Region 3-4A title in the triple jump and also ran a leg on the Shark 4x800 relay squad that won a region title and is set to compete in the sectional meet in both events this weekend.
Sierzant has a tight-knit family with her mother Brenda and father David constants in the stands at her games. Her sister Elizabeth is junior guard on the Berry College basketball team, and her brother, Howie, serves as student manager with the Islands baseball, basketball and football teams.
She said she plans to play volleyball in college, but wants to close out her prep career in style. She said she will play all four sports again her senior year.
"Playing all the sports has benefits — basketball helps me with jumping for volleyball, soccer helps with my endurance and track and field helps with my speed," Sierzant said. "And of course I want to win the Hollis Stacy Award again. The third time is the charm, right?"
Sierzant will receive the trophy for the Hollis Stacy Award on Monday, May 9, at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Islands gymnasium. The public is welcome to attend.
Hollis Stacy Award winners
1993 — Joy Brown, Beach
1994 — Susie Kleinpeter, Calvary Day
1995 — Catherine Booker, Savannah Country Day
1996 — Booker, SCD
1997 — Kamesha Mabry, Jenkins
1998 — Arden Wilson, SCD
1999 — Brooke Cornwell, Savannah Christian
2000 — Erin Shields, SCD
2001 — Caroline Griner, Calvary
2002 — Anne Carson, SCD; Kristen Kelly, SCPS
2003 — Lizzie Sprague, SCD
2004 — Sprague, SCD
2005 — Lisa Gray, St. Vincent's Academy
2006 — Haley Reese, SCD
2007 — Christine Phan, Windsor Forest
2008 — Katherine Dotson, SCD
2009 — Katie Covington, Calvary
2010 — Sonny Canady, Calvary
2011 — Jasmine Perrett, Jenkins
2012 — Alicia Lawton, Savannah High
2013 — Chandler Ewaldsen, SCPS
2014 — Ewaldsen, SCPS
2015 — Amari Oliver, SCD
2016 — Sarah Stewart, SVA
2017 — Stewart, SVA
2018 — Anna Bolch, SCD
2019 — Basia Peragine, CDS, and Elizabeth Winders, SVA
2020 — BryAnn Pound, Jenkins
2021 — Veronica Sierzant, Islands
2022 — Sierzant, Islands
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: Islands High School student wins the Hollis Stacy Award once again
