Sonoraville High School volleyball duo named Georgia all-state

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Sonoraville High School volleyball players Carrie Cheeks and Kristi Vaughn were named to the 2013 Georgia Class AAA all-state first team after the Senior All-Star game this past weekend in Atlanta. Cheeks, a three-sport state honoree, plans to sign a basketball scholarship with Lee University, while Vaughn will be signing to continue her volleyball career at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah. The all-state team in each classification includes 10 players from all grade levels; the senior all-star game included 40 12th-graders voted on by coaches throughout Georgia. "These are two very deserving young ladies," Sonoraville coach Trace Vaughn said. "Both represented Sonoraville very well in the Senior All-Star Game, and we are thrilled to see our first players receiving state-level accolades."

Basketball

• Freshman Jervon Johnson from Ooltewah scored 20 points in 19 minutes off the bench to lead Lee University's 99-61 season-opening basketball win Monday night in Cleveland against Johnson University. Junior transfer Jay Marquette scored 13 points and returners Corey Billingsley and Evan Forhetz added 12 and 11 for the Flames, while freshman Stedmon Ford from Notre Dame scored 10 and matched Forhetz's 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Forhetz was 3-of-3 on 3-point shots, and the team was 14-of-31. Louis Allen scored 25 points for Johnson (0-4).

Baseball

• Former Soddy-Daisy High School and Tennessee Wesleyan College baseball player Albert Gertz recently was hired as pitching coach by Faulkner University, the reigning NAIA national champion. After his playing career, Gertz was a volunteer assistant coach for the Wesleyan team that won the NAIA World Series in 2012. Faulkner associate head coach Travis Watson, a Sweetwater native and former Lee University assistant, had a part in Gertz's hiring through his connections with the TWC coaching staff. "We were searching for a pitching coach, and Albert has a reputation for working hard and being loyal to the Tennessee Wesleyan program," Eagles head coach Patrick McCarthy said Monday night. "He's dedicated and spends a lot of time with the guys, developing a good rapport with them. We're glad he can help us out."

Running

• Freshman Natalie Williams from Northwest Whitfield High School was part of the Brenau University women's cross country team that won the Southern States Athletic Conference meet this past Saturday in Choctaw, Miss., and earned a trip to the NAIA national meet Nov. 23 in Rim Rock, Kan. Williams, in fact, was third among the Golden Tigers and ninth overall, earning all-conference recognition to go with making the SSAC all-academic team.

Football

• Tusculum College sophomore Justin Houston from Bradley Central High School had another outstanding pass-receiving game in the Pioneers' 52-33 loss last Saturday at Brevard. He caught 12 passes for 193 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown that got the Pioneers within 38-26 with just under 10 minutes to go.

Soccer

• Former Covenant College soccer standout Mike Wiersema recently oversaw his 500th win in 28 years as a high school soccer coach when Central Hardin in Elizabethtown, Ky., won its region championship. He has a son on Covenant's team now. The 1981-84 Scots player began coaching at Hixson High in the spring of his senior year and later coached at Baylor School, where he passed the 100-win milestone. He coached in South Carolina and Texas before moving to Kentucky. His team this year was ranked fourth in the state, and he was the Kentucky's Large School coach of the year and had the state player of the year. His wife wants to surprise him with a package of career memories and updates from former players, sent as emails to her at missmegw@gmail.com or videos to their daughter at Rica.Wiersema@gmail.com.

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