Automatic playoff berths are earned at the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A levels and several of those spots were claimed in the 4A Conference Thursday night across the state with one of the biggest being No. 1 Salpointe bringing home the 4A Kino Region championship over No. 4 Canyon del Oro. The Lancers held the Dorados off 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 25-12) to sweep the regular season over their rivals after the Dorados did the same to them last year.

Canyon del Oro went on to take runner-up to Notre Dame Prep in the 4A state final last year after the Lancers fell to the Saints in the semifinal round. Notre Dame (12-3 in ranking matches) moved up to the 5A Conference this year where the Saints are currently ranked No. 4. The 5A Northeast Valley Region looks to be the most difficult in the state with No. 2 Cactus Shadows (12-3) and No. 3 Horizon (12-3) joining Notre Dame.

In other action Thursday night, No. 8 Mica Mountain beat No. 20 Sahuarita 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 2514) to claim the 4A Gila Region championship and No. 12 Flagstaff held off No. 15 Bradshaw Mountain 3-2 (25-15, 19-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-7) to win the 4A Grand Canyon Region.  Mica Mountain lost in the play-in round last year as a No. 19 seed but the program is sure to host an opening round this year in either the play-in phase or the state tournament. Flagstaff fell in the state quarterfinal round last fall.

The Salpointe (14-0) and Canyon del Oro (12-2) match featured some of the hottest players in the state with Alina Nunez throwing down an impressive 29 kills in the loss. Madison Navarrete ended the night with 34 assists and Macy Whatton added 7 kills. Sophia Hernandez had 31 assists for the Lancers with Frankie Pieroni collecting 14 kills and Megan Muehlebach adding 12.

Salpointe jumped out to a commanding 19-14 lead in the first set but a block from Kylie Strang ended a 6-1 run for the Dorados to tie the set up 20-20. Hernandez hit Kate Mobley to change momentum and then Muehlebach delivered on an ace to help lead the team to a 25-21 win. The second set played out to a 20-13 lead for Canyon del Oro and the Dorados cruised to a 25-16 win to tie the match up 1-1.

The third set proved to be the difference in the match with the Lancers pulling away from a slim 17-16 lead thanks to a block from Leila Lowther and three straight kills from Muehlebach to help build a 21-16 lead. A service error and an ace from Nunez cut the lead down to 21-18 but another cross from Muehlebach and another block from Lowther helped seal the 25-19 win to go up 2-1. Salpointe went on to control the fourth set 25-12 for the 3-1 victory.

There is still another week of regular season play left with the Play-In Tournament slated for Tuesday, Nov. 1. The first round of the 4A state playoffs follows on Thursday, Nov. 3 with the top eight ranked teams hosting the eight winners from the Play-In Tournament. Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is set to host the state championship match on Saturday, Nov. 12.