CLINTON, Miss. - The Valdosta State Blazer volleyball team crushed the Lady Choctaws of Mississippi College for the second time this season with a three-set Gulf South Conference victory (25-20, 25-12, 25-10) in Clinton, Miss. on Monday night.

The defeat over the Lady Choctaws allowed the Blazers to advance their season record to 14-2 and 9-2 in the GSC. Meanwhile, the Lady Choctaws dropped to 2-17 overall and 1-10 in conference play.

The Blazers came out sluggish in the first set as the Lady Choctaws led with a 5-1 deficit over VSU. Valdosta State would then play a short game of catch-up in order to stay in the set. Both teams went neck and neck as the score was tied a total of twelve times. With 5 kills apiece each from Lea Jaklen and Antia Rodriguez-Sanchez, the Blazers rallied back to help stabilize VSU's efforts. Taylor Holder ended the set with two destructive service aces to close the set, 25-20.

The momentum created in the first set carried its way to the second set as the Blazers established a promising 13-4 lead over the Lady Choctaws. Valdosta State used aggressive serving which accounted for 5 service aces and allowed the Blazers to clinch set two, 25-12.

Head Coach Mike Swan highlights his thoughts on the importance of tough serving. "Our serving has been great the past two matches so that has really given us an advantage with opponents struggling to run their offense."

Valdosta State pushed it into gear and closed the third and final set on an impressive 15-5 run. The Lady Choctaws could not compete with the Blazers as they went on to dominate the set, 25-10.

The Blazers pushed through for a three-set victory, thanks to contributions from all over the court.  Rodriguez-Sanchez led the offense with 10 solid kills, and Jessica Codato produced a solid .750 hitting percentage for the night. Sydney Chick guided the defense with 14 digs, while Sara Dandridge posted 2 blocks to cruise past the Lady Choctaws.

Head Coach Swan added, "Jess is finding all of our hitters and that makes us pretty tough to stop at the net. We hope this continues this weekend when we play three strong teams from the Sunshine State Conference."

The Blazers will travel to play in the West Georgia Crossover tournament in Carrollton, Ga. Valdosta State will open the tournament against non-conference Eckerd University at 4:45pm.