MOBILE, Ala. — The AHSAA volleyball regionals are next for 19 teams from Mobile and Baldwin counties, who survived the area tournaments this week and remain in the hunt for a state championship.
The postseason now splits into two paths. Local public school teams in Class 2A, Class 4A and Class 5A must first win a sub-regional match on Monday, Oct. 19. Area teams in Class 6A and in the private school classifications, Class A and Class AA, advance directly to the South Regional tournament at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 21. Sub-regional winners will join them in Montgomery.
The state tournament follows Oct. 27-29 in Birmingham.
Who is still alive
Nine local teams will play sub-regional matches Monday:
- Class 2A: Chickasaw
- Class 4A: Williamson, Satsuma, Citronelle and Orange Beach
- Class 5A: Gulf Shores, Saraland, Murphy and Spanish Fort
Ten more local teams are headed straight to Montgomery:
- Class 6A: Davidson, Daphne, Fairhope and Alma Bryant
- Private Class A: Bayside Academy and Mobile Christian
- Private Class AA: McGill-Toolen, UMS-Wright, St. Paul’s and Faith Academy
Sub-regional matchups, Monday, Oct. 19
Sub-regional matches are played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. Match times were not available.
- Class 2A: Chickasaw at Luverne
- Class 4A: Williamson at Satsuma
- Class 4A: Citronelle at Orange Beach
- Class 5A: Gulf Shores at Saraland
- Class 5A: Murphy at Spanish Fort
Two of the five matches are all-local affairs. In Class 4A, Williamson travels to Satsuma, and in Class 5A, Gulf Shores visits Saraland. That guarantees at least one Mobile County team in the 4A regional field and at least one more local team in the 5A field.
South Regional openers in Montgomery, Wednesday, Oct. 21
- Class 6A: Davidson vs. Daphne, 9 a.m.
- Class 6A: Fairhope vs. Alma Bryant, 9 a.m.
- Private Class A: Bayside Academy vs. Northside Methodist, 11 a.m.
- Private Class A: Mobile Christian vs. Providence Christian, 11 a.m.
- Private Class AA: McGill-Toolen vs. Lee-Scott, 9 a.m.
- Private Class AA: Glenwood vs. UMS-Wright, 9 a.m.
- Private Class AA: St. Paul’s vs. Montgomery Catholic, 11 a.m.
- Private Class AA: Faith Academy vs. Houston Academy, 11 a.m.
The Class 6A bracket also features two all-local first-round matches, with Davidson facing Daphne and Fairhope meeting Alma Bryant. The Private Class A bracket pits Mobile Christian against Providence Christian in another local matchup.
Favorites with championship pedigree
The Mobile-Baldwin area enters the regional round with several programs used to playing deep into October. Three local teams won state titles in 2025: McGill-Toolen in Class 7A, Spanish Fort in Class 6A and Mobile Christian in Class 3A.
None of them can repeat in the same classification this fall. The AHSAA now separates public and private schools for the playoffs, which moved several local powers into new brackets.
- McGill-Toolen has won four straight state titles, all in Class 7A, and entered the postseason at 37-2 as the favorite in the new Private Class AA.
- Spanish Fort won the previous two Class 6A crowns and now competes in Class 5A, where the Toros entered the playoffs at 49-3 and are again considered a strong favorite.
- Bayside Academy holds the national and state records for most consecutive state championships, with 21, and most overall state championships, with 31. The Admirals entered the postseason at 26-8 as a favorite in Private Class A.
- Mobile Christian, the two-time defending Class 3A champion, is now in Private Class A and entered the postseason at 16-10.
Other local contenders still alive include Saraland (24-5 entering the postseason), Orange Beach (34-12), Gulf Shores (17-13), Faith Academy (37-6), UMS-Wright (22-16) and St. Paul’s (21-17), based on records heading into area play.
Several of those teams have recent state tournament experience. Last season, St. Paul’s and Bayside Academy joined McGill-Toolen at state in Class 7A, Saraland reached state with Spanish Fort in Class 6A, UMS-Wright and Faith Academy competed in Class 5A, and Orange Beach and St. Michael earned berths in Class 4A. Saraland, UMS-Wright and Orange Beach all advanced to the semifinals.
How the rest of the postseason works
The AHSAA volleyball playoffs run in stages. Area tournaments, held this week on local campuses, sent their top two finishers on. The sub-regional round thins the public school fields in the lower classifications before the regional tournaments. Teams that advance from the South Regional in Montgomery earn a trip to the state tournament in Birmingham, where champions will be crowned Oct. 27-29.
Because many of the area’s top public and private programs scheduled “crossover” matches against each other during the regular season, several local coaches have said they believe their teams are battle-tested for the postseason. Given the region’s track record, another multi-title fall for the Mobile-Baldwin area would not be a surprise.
Key dates
- Monday, Oct. 19: Sub-regional matches, Class 2A, 4A and 5A, at higher seeds
- Wednesday, Oct. 21: South Regional tournament opens, Cramton Bowl Multiplex, Montgomery
- Oct. 27-29: AHSAA state volleyball tournament, Birmingham
