GSC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL - GSC TOURNAMENT BRACKETVALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State volleyball team will head to Pensacola, Fla. this weekend to defend their 2014 Gulf South Conference title in the semifinal round of this year's GSC Tournament.
In order to do that, the next step could be the toughest for the Blazers (23-6, 17-3 GSC) while in pursuit of their second straight championship. In order to earn a spot in the title match, Valdosta State will have to find an answer for the North Alabama Lions (24-7, 17-3 GSC), the only team to have defeated the Blazers more than once this season. VSU's most recent matchup against the Lions, who finished second in the league behind the Argonauts of West Florida, resulted in a 3-1 loss for the Blazers.
That victory secured a second place seed for the Lions in GSC postseason play, while the Blazers fell into third place, and advanced to Pensacola after defeating West Alabama in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday. The Shorter Hawks earned a fourth place seed and proceeded to the semifinals after a win over ?Alabama-Huntsville on Tuesday, while the Argonauts of West Florida earned hosting rights for the final two rounds after earning the top seed.
"Our success this weekend will be based on our first ball contact," stated Head Coach
Mike Swan on Friday. "We need to pass the ball on serve receive in system so all of our hitters can be an option offensively, and we need to serve aggressively with few errors to utilize our league-leading blocking at the net. If our players play like we expect for them to, I believe we can win this championship for the second consecutive season. We are really looking forward to defending it against very tough and talented teams."
The Blazers' critical semifinal matchup is slated for a 4:30 p.m. EST start at the UWF Field House and can be viewed in its entirety via links available at
www.vstateblazers.com.
