VALDOSTA, Ga. – A crowd of 266 volleyball fans gathered on Friday night at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. to witness the Valdosta State volleyball team roll to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-14) sweep of Union in Gulf South Conference action.
 
Union started off strong and pushed out to an early lead in the first set, but the Blazers regained their composure late in the frame to ultimately control the match and boost their flawless run to 11-0, 6-0 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs fell to 4-8 overall and an even 3-3 against league competition.
 
"Union dictated play for most of the first set," said Head Coach Mike Swan after the win. "We never established a rhythm in our offense until we were tied at 20-20. After that, we became more aggressive with our serving and forced them out of system quite a bit."
 
The Blazers thrived on the strong offensive effort of Lea Jaklen, who hit .522 in the match with a team-high 14 kills in 23 attempts. Susanna Peonia bolstered VSU's attack with 12 kills of her own en route to a .500 hitting percentage, while Jessica Codato hit .417, dished out 31 assists, and picked up 16 digs for a double-double.
 
Several key blocks down the stretch, along with another strong effort on the back row by libero Natalia Campos, held the Lady Bulldogs in check and never allowed the team to establish an offensive mindset. The Blazers tallied 64 digs on the night, 18 of which belonged to Campos, and Union was limited to a .089 hitting percentage as a team.
 
"I felt like we finally played like we were capable in the third set, and we dominated at the net with our blocking and timely hitting," added Swan.
 
Valdosta State won't get to rest long, as they return to action tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at The Complex to face the Lady Bucs of Christian University. Live stats will be provided for the match at www.vstateblazers.com.