VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State Blazer volleyball team racked up big numbers to roll past the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers and pick up an impressive 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-17) win in Gulf South Conference volleyball action at The Complex on Sunday.
Valdosta State dominated the match from the outset to improve to 18-7 overall and 13-4 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Chargers were left still seeking the sixth and final GSC Tournament berth, as the team fell to 15-11 on the season and dropped to an even 9-9 in league play.
The Blazers used strong offensive performances by
Kelsey Hedman,
Jessica Codato, and
Destiny Berry to compile a .278 hitting percentage on the afternoon. All three hit for over .350, and
Jenna Kirkwood added to the effort with a team high 10 kills.
"Today, I think we passed really well and we did a great job blocking. We had a lot of quality touches at the net and just took care of business," said Assistant Coach
Ondrej Mican about the win. "This is how we feel we should be playing at this point in the year. It's important for us to play well all season long, but in these last days of the season, as the final rankings are decided, we need to make sure that we are finishing strong going into the Gulf South Conference tournament and hopefully the regionals."
Strong finishes were the order of the day, as the Blazers never allowed the Chargers to pose a threat and won each set by an average of nine points. UAH put together a solid defensive performance at the net, but fell short on the offensive side with a paltry .130 hitting average on the day.
"We had a really strong warmup session this morning where we worked on a lot of serve and pass, and we played each other in all the rotations," said Berry. "I think our focus early in the day helped us go out there in this match and play really well together."
Valdosta State will hit the road one last time to face West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga. on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., before returning home to close out the regular season with matches on both Friday and Saturday. Members of Blazer Nation who are unable to make the road match on Tuesday can follow all of the action live, right here at www.vstateblazers.com.
