Where did SW FL volleyball teams land in FHSAA regional bracket reveal?

The FHSAA volleyball playoffs have arrived.

The state released the regional playoff brackets on Sunday, Oct. 18, and 13 Southwest Florida teams made the cut.

That includes First Baptist (25-2), who earned a 7 seed for the inaugural Open Division, which will pit the best teams in the state against each other in two round-robin tournaments regardless of classification. Seacrest Country Day (19-7) is the top seed in Class 1A-Region 3 and will seek to reach the Final Four for the sixth consecutive season.

Below, we'll be showing the brackets for each region, along with our analysis of each of the six divisions featuring an area program. Regional quarterfinals for Classes 1A-3A will be played Tuesday, Oct. 20, with Classes 4A-6A on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Teams in bold denote district champions. Teams in italics denote local squads.

Open Division

(1) Orangewood Christian

(2) Calvary Christian

(3) Tampa Plant

(4) Winter Park

(5) Gulliver Prep

(6) Beachside

(7) First Baptist

(8) Santa Fe

Breakdown: The Lions make history as the first Southwest Florida team in any sport to qualify for the Open Division playoffs. FBA will compete in a round-robin pool with the 2, 3 and 6 seeds, and the top two seeds will advance to the state semifinals in Winter Haven. On Oct. 21, the Lions will go on the road to play No. 3 seed Tampa Plant and will come bakc home to host No. 2 seed Calvary Christian on Oct. 24. The third round will take place on Oct. 28 and the Lions will go up against No. 6 seed Beachside. FBA previously played Calvary Christian back in August and lost in four tight sets.

Class 1A-Region 3

(1) Seacrest Country Day vs. (8) Keswick Christian

(4) Tampa Bay Heat vs. (5) Academy at the Lakes

(2) Bradenton Christian vs. (7) Classical Prep

(3) All Saints' vs. (6) St. Stephen's

Breakdown: The path to yet another Final Four for the Stingrays looks assuring, though there is considerable competition among the top seeds. Bradenton Christian is coming off a strong regular season at 18-9, and All Saints' (20-3) also presents a threat.

Class 2A-Region 3

(1) St. Andrews vs. (8) SFCA

(2) Benjamin vs. (5) John Carroll

(2) Community School vs. (7) Marco Island

(3) Canterbury vs. (6) Out-of-Door

Breakdown: We get an opening round rematch between the Seahawks and the Manta Rays, who competed in districts last week with CSN winning in four sets. First Baptist qualifying for the Open Division opens up the opportunity in this region. CSN and Canterbury split their two prior meetings this season, so that could be an enticing matchup with a place in the regional final on the line.

Class 3A-Region 3