AIKEN, S.C. – The Valdosta State volleyball team ran its winning streak to three matches with a 3-0 sweep of UNC Pembroke Friday afternoon for sweep in the first two matches of the 2019 Pacer Invitational, hosted by University of South Carolina Aiken.
 
In the second match of the day, VSU hit .173 against the Braves as the team had 35 kills in 104 swings, while UNCP had 25 kills in 114 swings for a .018 percentage.  VSU sophomore Jessie Mooney led the team with ten kills, while senior Daria Powell added seven kills and junior Grace Daugherty chipped in eight.  Junior Tammy Reyes Perez had 24 assists and ten digs to lead the team, while freshman Kennedy DeLuca had five blocks.  
 
For the Braves (7-5), Selena Biele had seven kills and Morgan Gibbs added five assists, while Abby Farr had 11 digs as UNCP dropped its first match of the tournament.  The Blazers swept Converse earlier in the day, improving to 7-4 on the year following the two matches Friday.
 
UNCP pulled within 14-13 in the first set, but four-straight serves from junior Megan Stanton swelled the lead to 18-13.  From there, UNCP pulled back within 20-18 on a mini-run, but a service error by the Braves started a 5-0 run by the Blazers to end the set.
 
VSU used another big run in the second set to pull away as it trailed 4-3 early and Stanton went on a six-serve run and a 7-0 run overall for a 10-4 lead.  UNCP got as close at 18-14, but VSU held the Braves at bay for a 25-20 win for a 2-0 lead.  A pair of big runs by the Blazers highlighted the third set and a 25-12 game to clinch the match.  VSU hit a match-best .375 in the third set with 12 kills and three errors in 24 swings.  The Braves committed 27 errors for the match.  
 
The Blazers now will face Francis Marion Saturday at 3 p.m. with live stats and streaming links available at vstateblazers.com, and then will conclude the tournament against host USC Aiken at 5:30 p.m.