VALDOSTA, Ga. – On the first day of the 2018 Holiday Inn VSU Volleyball Fall Classic, hosted by Valdosta State, the Blazers dropped two matches, falling in a heartbreaker 3-2 to Spring Hill College and a 3-0 loss to USC Aiken.  
 
THE BASICS:

• Score:L, 3-2 vs. Spring Hill (25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 13-15 / 

L, 3-0 vs. USC Aiken (17-25, 19-25, 19-25)

• Location:Valdosta, Ga.
• Event:Holiday Inn VSU Volleyball Fall Classic
• Record:1-5

 
 
LEADING THE WAY (Double-Digit Statistical Leaders):

• Kills: Chloe Chubilleau (VSU vs. Spring Hill, 20) / Kassandra Fairly (Spring Hill, 19)

Jessie Mooney (VSU vs. USC Aiken, 10) / Christine Carroll (USC Aiken, 13)

• Assists: Tammy Reyes-Perez (VSU vs. Spring Hill, 54) / E. Neibert (Spring Hill, 60)

Tammy Reyes-Perez (VSU vs. USC Aiken, 27) / A. Smith and V. Strozier (USC Aiken, 11)

• Digs: Aurora Nero and Daria Powell (vs. Spring Hill, 28) / Cassidi Sterrett  (Spring Hill, 29)

Aurora Nero (VSU vs. USC Aiken, 14) / Rebecca Martinez (USC Aiken, 24)
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Against Spring Hill in the home opener, the Blazers came out in a tightly contested first set and trailed 22-20, but a big kill from junior Dariah Powell and back-to-back kills put VSU up 23-22.  
• Following a tie score at 23, kills from junior Kayla Widera and senior Chloe' Chubilleau gave the Blazers the first set, which saw a match-high 19 ties and nine lead changes in the initial frame.
• Spring Hill won the second set and the Blazers took the third.  In the fourth, Spring Hill built a 20-17 lead, but a pair of Widera kills and an ace tied the frame at 20. Powell then had the equalizer at 22, but a service error and a pair of kills event the match at 2-2.
• In the fifth frame, VSU pulled within 7-6 on a kill from senior Lindsey Robinson, but the Badgers rattled off three-straight for a 10-7 lead.  Widera's kill tied the match at 13, but Spring Hill capitalized on a pair of VSU miscues to take the match.
• VSU hit .184 for the match with 62 kills on 201 swings, while Chubilleau had a match-high 20 kills and 11 digs.  
• Freshmen Jessie Mooney tallied a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs as did Powell with 11 kills and 28 digs, matching the team-high digs with freshman Aurora Nero.
• In the second match of the day, the Blazers dropped the opening set 25-17 against USC Aiken as the Pacers won the final two sets by the same score of 25-19. 
• VSU hit .105 against USA with 29 kills and 114 swings, while Mooney paced the team with 10 kills and Nero had 14 digs.  
• The Blazers had 11 blocks in the match with three solo rejections and six assists by Widera to lead the team.

 
 
UP NEXT: 

• VSU concludes the tournament against Albany State Saturday at 12 p.m. at The Complex.