Tournament Central
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off of its second win of the season on Saturday versus Albany State, the Valdosta State volleyball team hosts Coastal Georgia Wednesday at 7 p.m. at The Complex and then travels to Spartanburg, S.C., for the Converse Tournament, Friday and Saturday.
VSU is 2-5 on the year following its first home tournament of the season as the Blazers went 1-2 for the weekend. Freshman
Jessie Mooney was named Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week for her efforts last weekend. The Blazers dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Spring Hill College and lost 3-0 to USC Aiken, before blanking Albany State 3-0 to conclude the tournament.
The Blazers led 2-1 against Spring Hill in the first game of the tournament last weekend, but weren't able to hang on for the win. For the tournament, the Blazers hit .208 with 390 swings and 129 kills. VSU averaged 11.7 kills per set, while recording 111 assists and 176 digs. VSU had 30 total blocks with seven solo rejections.
Individually, Mooney paced the team hitting .256 with 86 swings and 30 kills, which was good for second on team. The Trinity, Fla., native, averaged 2.73 kills per set and 2.27 digs per set with 25 total digs for the weekend. Junior
Dariah Powell had a big weekend as well as she hit .246 in three starts, while recording 18 kills with 38 digs. She was in on seven blocks with one solo stop.
Junior
Kayla Widera was all over the court defensively as she was in on 15 total blocks with three solo rejections. Widera was third on the team in average at .226, while recording 19 dills and had six service aces. Senior
Chloe' Chubilleau had a team-high 115 swings while tying for the team-lead in aces with seven with sophomore Tammy Reyes-Perez. Perez, the setter, recorded 111 assists to lead the team and had 28 digs for third on the team.
Nationally speaking, the Blazers are 36
thnationally and fourth in the GSC in aces per set at 2.12, while ranking 26
thnationally and fifth in the conference in total aces with 55. Individually, Reyes-Perez is third in the league in attacks per set at 8.38, while ranking second in the conference in total assists with 218. Widera is third in the league in blocks per set (1.00) and fourth in total blocks with 26. Freshman
Aurora Nero is fifth in the league in digs with 97.
Coastal Georgia enters with a 6-5 record in NAIA. The Mariners are hitting .162 for the season with 500 kills in 39 sets with 260 errors and 1479 swings. Coastal Georgia has 58 aces, while the opposition has a .131 percentage. The 470 assists ranks 1th in NAIA Division I, while the team is 19
thin kills (500), 30
thin Digs (630) and 50
thin blocks (63). Mariner head coach Leah Mihm is in her third year there and is 47-29 overall.
VSU is 1-0 all-time against Coastal Georgia as the teams met back in 2012 with the Blazers winning, 3-0 on Sept. 1.
On Friday, the Blazers travel to Converse in Spartanburg, S.C., where VSU will bathe the host Valkeries and Limestone. Converse is 2-6 on the year and is scheduled to play at Lander (S.C.) on Wednesday, before returning home to host the tournament. Limestone is 1-2 on the year with losses last weekend to GSC teams Auburn Montgomery and Montevallo by the score of 3-1 in both matches. Limestone will play Shorter on Friday in Spartanburg, before facing the Blazers. VSU will play Converse at 12:30 p.m. and Limestone at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday's action features the Blazers battling North Greenville at 8:30 a.m. as the Crusaders are 5-3 on the year. VSU will conclude the tournament against Mars Hill at 12:30 p.m. as the Lions are 4-1 on the year.
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming links at
www.vstateblazers.comon the volleyball schedule page.
