It wasn’t meant to be for the Wildcats at Thursday afternoon’s home championship game against Effingham County Middle School.

Instead, Effingham County were crowned the Coastal Empire Regional Championship winners after beating the hosts in two sets. 

The home side struggled to respond to Effingham County’s sharp offense, despite a short break in play due to an opposition player serving out of rotation.  

Richmond Hill Middle School reached the final after beating the reigning champions South Effingham Middle School on Monday night. 

The Wildcats went into the final unbeaten in the regular season, with 13 wins and no losses.

Coaches Meredith Succi and Abby Stahl were nevertheless proud of their players for their hard work and resilience throughout the season. 

“This game doesn’t define the season we had,” Succi said. “This team has definitely come back from some tight spots and fought it out.”

“Today didn’t go our way but overall, I couldn’t be prouder of these girls.”