The first postseason of the 2018-19 athletic year is here.

Volleyball begins their state playoffs with first round matches on Thursday and all three area schools punched their ticket to begin their march towards the state championships.

The Gillom Athletics Performance Center on the Ole Miss campus is the site for the 2018 MHSAA volleyball championships on Oct.26-27.

Oxford and Lafayette will hit the road while Water Valley will host after going undefeated in their region.

Lafayette
It is a case of déjà vu for Lafayette (22-12), who is returning to where their 2017 season came to an end. The Commodores travel to Lake Cormorant for a first round match (6 p.m.) in a rematch from last year’s second round.

The Gators (27-9) swept Lafayette 3-0 to advance to the semifinals last year. The two have met since then with Lake Cormorant once again sweeping the Commodores 3-0 on Sept. 10.

“The good thing is we’ve seen them before so we know how good they are,” Lafayette head coach Clint Jordan said. “We don’t have that fear of what they are. We know what they are.”

Oxford
The Chargers found their way into the Class III playoffs for the second straight year. Unlike last season, the Chargers (15-17-1) have to travel for the first round with a match at Clinton (23-8).

The two teams met earlier this month during the Clinton Invitational. The Arrows bested Oxford 2-1, but the Chargers came away with confidence for this week’s do-or-die match.

“Clinton won our pool, but we also took a set off of them and I feel we actually played really well,” Oxford head coach Kacie Hengler said. “We definitely have a chance to beat them but we definitely have to play more consistently.”

Water Valley
The Blue Devils (15-6) went a perfect 8-0 in Region 3-Class I to earn themselves a first-round match at home. They will host Kossuth at the Water Valley High School multipurpose building at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.