For the 17th time in school history, the Our Lady Academy Crescents of Bay St. Louis brought home a state volleyball championship on Thursday.
The Southern Six sent four schools to Clinton last week and OLA was the only one to bring back the gold.
Ocean Springs, Hancock and East Central ended tremendous seasons, coming up just short in the state finals played on the campus of Mississippi College.
The Crescents capped an awesome 41-4 campaign with a hard-fought four-set victory over Belmont (29-12) in Class 3A.
The Lady Cardinals won the first set 25-13, but coach Emily Corley’s Crescents rallied to take the next three sets 25-16, 25-22 and 25-23 for their third consecutive state title among their 17 championships.
In the 7A final on Thursday, Ocean Springs jumped out to a lead of two sets to none over Lewisburg but could not finish off the Lady Patriots. Lewisburg rallied to win a five-set thriller 20-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20 and 15-8 for its second consecutive state title.
Ocean Springs finished an outstanding season at 35-10 under coach Christina Daigle while Lewisburg wrapped up its year at 31-9.
On Thursday, Hancock again found Lake Cormorant on the other side of the net in the 6A final, and once again, came up short against the Lady Gators.
The Lady Hawks fell 25-21 in a tight first set, but the defending state champions used that momentum to take the match in three sets, winning 25-19 and 25-13 to close it out.
Lake Cormorant (39-5) won its third straight state title and fourth in five years.
Coach Greg Dillard’s back-to-back South State champion Lady Hawks finished at 31-7.
On Friday, the East Central Lady Hornets also faced a familiar foe in the 5A title match as the Lafayette Lady Commodores were once again their opponent.
The rematch was not kind to the Lady Hornets as Lafayette won back-to-back state championships, sweeping the Lady Hornets 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21.
Coach Kayla Everett’s Lady Hornets (18-24) capped a remarkable playoff run. They were the only Southern Six team of the four remaining to win a South State title on the road, defeating rival Vancleave.
In other state finals, Purvis captured the 4A title, defeating New Albany in five sets; Ingomar swept Lake for the 2A crown; and Stringer swept West Union for the 1A championship.
St. Patrick girls, PRC boys earn state swim titles
Last weekend at the Tupelo Aquatic Center, state swimming titles were awarded and two Southern Six squads brought home the gold.
The St. Patrick Lady Irish captured the Class I girls championship, holding off St. Andrew’s.
The Pearl River Central Blue Devils captured the boys Class II title, finishing ahead of Warren Central, Pascagoula and Picayune, among others.
Congratulations to all the individual medalists as well.
