As teams head into the final week of the regular season, volleyball playoff berths have been secured for the squads in the Southern Six.
Ocean Springs (7A), Hancock (6A), Vancleave (5A), Poplarville (4A), OLA (3A) and Resurrection (1A) have all won region titles and will host first-round playoff matches on Oct. 5 (1A, 3A and 4A) and Oct. 8 (5A, 6A and 7A).
Seeding in each classification, barring any upsets this week, seems to be set as well.
In Region 4-7A, Gulfport (7-2 in the region) has wrapped up the runner-up spot behind the Lady Greyhounds and will host an opening-round match as well.
Gulfport travels to D’Iberville (4-5) on Thursday with the Lady Warriors battling Harrison Central for the third spot.
Harrison Central (4-5) finishes up at home against St. Martin, which needs a win and a D’Iberville loss to secure the third seed.
Ocean Springs looks to finish region play undefeated when it travels to Biloxi (3-6) on Sept. 30.
In Region 4-6A, Hancock secured its second consecutive title on Tuesday night with a three-set sweep of George County. Hancock looks to finish a perfect region schedule on Thursday night when it hosts West Harrison.
The Lady Hurricanes (5-3) played at George County on Wednesday night to take on the Lady Rebels (6-2). A win for the Lady Rebels would secure the second seed and a home playoff match.
George County can also clinch the second seed with a win over Pascagoula at home on Thursday night. The Lady Rebels hold the tiebreaker over the Lady Panthers.
Long Beach (4-4) will join Hancock, George County and West Harrison in the playoffs and could still sneak into the third spot as the Lady Bearcats travel to Picayune (2-7) on Thursday night.
Vancleave has secured the Region 4-5A crown and looks to finish a perfect region run when it plays at Gautier (6-3) on Thursday night. The Lady Gators have locked up the third seed.
East Central will open the playoffs at home as the second seed. The Lady Hornets close out region play at home against Laurel.
Stone High (2-7) will host Wayne County (3-6), needing a three-set sweep of the Lady War Eagles to go deeper into the tiebreaker scenarios to determine the fourth seed.
Division 8-4A is once again dominated by Poplarville as the Lady Hornets finished 8-0.
Bay High has locked up the second seed and the Lady Tigers (5-2) host Greene County (2-5) on Thursday night. The Lady Wildcats will open the playoffs on the road as the fourth seed while Pass Christian (4-4) will join them on the road as the third seed.
OLA (8-0) rolled to another division crown in 8-3A.
Though the Crescents dropped their first five-set match of the season to 7A Gulfport this week, they are 33-4 with their only losses coming against the Lady Admirals and two other 7A powers—Ocean Springs and Brandon.
St. Patrick and West Marion finished at 5-3, but the Lady Irish fell to the third seed based on their head-to-head matchups. West Marion swept its victory and St. Patrick won in four sets.
Resurrection (7-1) played at Pascagoula on Wednesday night as the Lady Eagles continued to tune up for their first-round home playoff match.
