(All photos courtesy of Bobby McDuffie)
19 teams out of 24 total schools in the “Southern six” qualified for the state prep volleyball playoffs this season in the Mississippi High School Activities Association.
And today, after the first two rounds of play, nine squads in five different classifications remain in the hunt for a state championship after winning their respective matches Tuesday night.
In Class 6A, Ocean Springs and Gulfport remain alive after the Lady Greyhounds swept visiting Biloxi 25-16, 25-18, and 25-15 while Gulfport did the same at home to Brandon 33-31, 25-15, and 25-19.
In Class 5A, East Central swept away South Jones 25-9, 25-15, and 25-10 and Vancleave beat West Jones 3 sets to 1. Also, Long Beach swept visiting George County while West Harrison did the same to Vicksburg.
And in Class 4A, Pass Christian beat Northeast Jones 3 sets to 1.
In Class 3A, OLA swept Clarkdale 3-0.
And in Class 1A, home-standing Resurrection overwhelmed Ethel 25-9, 25-12, and 25-4.
Those results set up Thursday’s South State and North State semifinal round, and these are the matchups:
(Note: Top two matches are South State and the bottom two are North State in each classification.)
CLASS 6A
Brandon at Ocean Springs
Northwest Rankin at Gulfport
Madison Central at Oxford
Hernando at Germantown
CLASS 5A
Vancleave at Long Beach
West Harrison at East Central
Neshoba Central at Lake Cormorant
Lafayette at New Hope
CLASS 4A
West Lauderdale at Purvis
Newton County at Pass Christian
Pontotoc at New Albany
Tishomingo County at Caledonia
CLASS 3A
Union at St. Andrew’s
Enterprise-Clarke at OLA
Hatley at Alcorn Central
Mantachie at Kossuth
CLASS 2A
Stringer at East Marion
Puckett at Sacred Heart
Choctaw County at Belmont
East Union at Walnut
CLASS 1A
Noxapater at Taylorsville
Sebastopol at Resurrection
Falkner at Ingomar
Biggersville at Hickory Flat
