Volleyball roundup: Five “Southern Six” squads clinch regular-season region titles

The 2023 volleyball regular season heads down the stretch with five region titles decided and playoff berths secured.

East Central, Hancock, Ocean Springs, Our Lady Academy and Resurrection have won region championships and will be top seeds in the playoffs that start in October.

St. Patrick joins the Crescents in the 3A playoffs as the Lady Irish have secured a No. 2 seed and home playoff date in the first round. OLA, which is 27-3 overall after a three-set sweep of West Marion, will host Tylertown tonight. St. Patrick swept Perry Central on Tuesday and wrapped up region play at 6-2.

Resurrection (7-0) looks to close out a perfect region schedule when it plays tonight at Lumberton. The Lady Eagles are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Salem.

In 7A, Gulfport will earn the No. 2 seed behind the Lady Greyhounds. The Lady Admirals’ latest victory was a four-setter against Biloxi. The Lady Indians hold a one-game lead over D’Iberville and will host the Lady Warriors tonight. Biloxi won the first meeting 3-1 and both teams have clinched playoff spots.

Ocean Springs, coming off a 3-0 sweep of Harrison Central, will host St. Martin tonight.

In 6A, the Hancock Lady Hawks look to wrap up a perfect region record when they visit West Harrison tonight in a match that has playoff implications for the Lady Hurricanes. West Harrison needs a win over the Lady Hawks and a Picayune upset of Long Beach to slide into the second spot.

The Lady Bearcats and Lady Canes are both 6-3 with Long Beach holding the tiebreaker after sweeping West Harrison in the regular season. George County travels to Pascagoula tonight and looks to finish at 5-5 in region play. The Lady Rebels have secured the fourth seed and will begin the playoffs on the road.

In Region 3-6A, Pearl River Central is 5-2 after sweeping Forest Hill. The Lady Blue Devils are at Hattiesburg tonight and play a home-and-home against Terry next week. The matches could determine the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the region. West Jones leads the region and would host George County if the playoffs began today.

East Central picked up a 3-0 sweep of rival Vancleave on Tuesday and will hang another championship banner after winning Region 4-5A. East Central travels to Stone tonight as the Lady Cats are 4-3 and in  a battle with Vancleave (6-3) and Gautier (5-3). Vancleave is at Wayne County tonight and the Lady Gators will host

Laurel. Gautier travels to Stone next Tuesday in a match that will go a long way toward settling the final standings.

The Region 4-4A title is still up for grabs as Poplarville swept Greene County while Bay swept Pass Christian earlier this week. Bay, which will travel to Greene County tonight, is just a half-game behind the Lady Hornets. The Lady Wildcats are in fourth place, a game behind Pass Christian. The Lady Pirates are at Moss Point tonight. Poplarville will play at Bay High next Tuesday and look to sweep the series with the Lady Tigers after a 3-0 win in Poplarville earlier this season. A win for the Lady Tigers would create a tiebreaker scenario to determine the region champion.

The playoffs will begin on Sat., Oct. 7.