GSC Volleyball Championship Page

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 5-seeded Valdosta State volleyball team will make its first appearance in the Gulf South Conference Championship since 2016 as it opens the championship Friday at 5 p.m. ET against No. 4-seed Montevallo.  Top-seeded West Florida is hosting this year's championship.  
 
The Blazers finished the regular season with a 3-0 win at Mississippi College on Saturday and stand at 15-17 overall under first year head coach Kaleigh Zoucha. Hired in March, Zoucha guided VSU to a 10-6 record in league play for the most conference wins since 2015.  VSU was picked eighth in the preseason coaches' poll and finished tied for fifth in the league standings this season with Alabama Huntsville.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming on the official home for the GSC Volleyball Championship by clicking the link at the top of the page. Check back following the match for a complete recap and stats.
 
This will be VSU's 15^thappearance in the GSC Championship as the team is 7-13 with one championship in 2014. VSU went 3-0 in 2014 for the conference title en route to a 25-8 season, before bowing out in the second round of the NCAA South Regional. 
 
VSU junior Kayla Widera was named GSC Second Team All-Conference earlier this week as she became the first Blazer since 2016 to earn all-league honors, when Susanna Peonia was named first team all-conference. This is Widera's first all-league honor of her career as she is hitting .239 on the year among every day starters.  She has 216 kills for third on the team in 566 attempts, while recording 12 and is tied for third on the team in service aces with 22.  The Trinity, Fla., native has 87 digs with a team-high 107 total blocks and 32 solo blocks.
 
She earned GSC Defensive Player of the Week honors once this season for the Blazers.  Widera is sixth in the GSC in total blocks and seventh in blocks per set at an 0.90 clip.  
 
Looking at the field this season, UWF won the regular season title by two games over No. 2-seed West Alabama.  UWF went 15-1 in league play and is 23-7 overall, while ranking No. 20^thnationally in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25.  UWF will await the winner of the VSU/Montevallo match for a 3 p.m. ET start on Sat., Nov. 10.  West Alabama awaits the winner of the No. 6 Alabama Huntsville/No. 3 Lee match Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The Championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 11, with the winner earning the league's automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs.
For the season, VSU started slow, but turned it on during conference play for the 10-6 mark and recorded some big wins to earn the berth in the conference tournament.  The Blazers posted a thrilling 3-1 win over West Alabama in the first meeting between the two teams in Valdosta VSU rallied from an 18-8 deficit in the fourth set for a 26-24 win to clinch the match.  It was the second of four-straight league wins for the Blazers. The following week, VSU won 3-1 at Alabama Huntsville for its biggest road victory of the season.  VSU then used a 3-1 victory on Senior Day over West Georgia a week before the season ended to secure a berth in the conference tournament.  
 
For the season, the Blazers have 1383 kills for 11.6 per set in 4129 chances for a .180 hitting percentage.  VSU has 1307 assists (10.9 p/s) with 210 service aces. The Blazers has 1792 digs (15.06 p/s) with 63 solo blocks and 233 assisted blocks for 179.5 total blocks and a 1.51 blocks per set average.  
 
Nationally speaking, VSU is 38^thin aces per set at 1.76 for third in the league, while ranking 16^thnationally in total aces with 210 to lead the GSC.  VSU's 4,129 total attacks ranks fourth in the league and 52^ndnationally.  
 
Individually, senior Lindsey Robinson leads the team in hitting average at a .251 clip as she has 199 kills in 510 swings.  Widera is second in hitting average at .239, while senior Chloe' Chubilleau leads the team with 288 kills and service aces with 45. Her 45 aces ranks 35^thnationally and third in the GSC.  Freshman Jessie Mooney is second on the team in kills with 266.  Sophomore Tammy Reyes-Perez leads the team in assists with 1,138 to lead the GSC.  She is 29^thnationally in total assists and third in the league in assists per set at 9.56.  Chubilleau and Reyes-Perez each have seven double-doubles on the year, while Mooney has five.
 
Montevallo enters with a 21-8 record overall and went 12-4 in league play.  Montevallo had two players named to the all-conference second team in Amanda Nugent and Evelina Teran. 
 
VSU lost the only match with Montevallo this season 3-0 on Oct. 12. In Montevallo, Ala.  In that match, VSU was led by 10 kills from junior Dariah Powell, while Widera and Robinson had two blocks each and Reyes-Perez had 22 assists.  VSU hit .061 for the match, while Montevallo hit .283. UM's Brie Blume had a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs.