VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off another solid performance at the Pacer Invitational, the Valdosta State volleyball team opens the 2019 Gulf South Conference slate Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Shorter and then returns home to host Lee and West Georgia at The Complex this weekend. 
 
The Blazers (8-5) went 3-1 this past weekend at the Pacer Invitational, hosted by South Carolina Aiken.  VSU downed Converse (3-0), UNC Pembroke (3-0) and Francis Marion (3-0), before losing to the host Pacers, 3-0.  The Blazers have gone 7-2 since starting the season 1-3.  
 
In five matches last week, including a 3-0 win over Albany State a week ago Tuesday in the 2019 home-opener, the Blazers hit. 250 with 196 kills in 553 swings.  VSU had 177 assists with 131 from junior Tammy Reyes Perez, while recording 27 aces.  Defensively, the team had 303 digs with 26 total blocks and six solo rejections.  Sophomore Jessie Mooney had a team-high 42 kills for the week, while hitting .237.  Junior Grace Daugherty had 38 kills and assisted on 12 blocks.  Senior Kayla Widera had 14 total blocks with two solo blocks, while recording 30 kills.  Junior Rebecca Sills had a team-high nine aces for the week.
 
Shorter enters with a 6-5 record after going 3-1 in a tournament at Southern Indiana.  The Hawks dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Arkansas Tech, but defeated Kentucky State (3-0), Ohio Dominican (3-1) and Kentucky Wesleyan (3-2).  
 
The Hawks enter with 491 kills on the year and a .148 average in 1559 swings.  They have 469 assists with 73 aces, while recording 692 digs and 18 solo blocks with 116 assisted.  Mirella Gatterdam leads the team with 135 kills and is hitting .182 for the season with nine aces.  Lacee Glover is second in kills with 83 and has a team-high 12 aces.  Emily Wilson has a team-high 231 digs, while Glover is second in digs with 90.  Katherine Patrick leads the team with eight solo blocks and has 35 total blocks for the season.  
 
VSU downed Shorter last season 3-0 in the GSC opener in Valdosta for head coach Kaleigh Zoucha's first GSC victory.  In the match, Mooney had 12 kills, while Widera had four blocks and Reyes Perez added 45 assists.  The Blazers hit .336 for the match, while holding Shorter to a .158 clip.  
 
The Blazers have 504 kills for the season and are hitting .209 for the year with 11.7 kills per set, while the opposition is hitting .152 for the season.  VSU has 466 assists with 45 aces, while recording 753 digs and has 105.5 total blocks with 17 solo blocks.  
 
Individually, senior Dariah Powell leads the team with 106 kills, just one kill ahead of Mooney.  Powell is hitting .184 for the season, while Mooney has 105 kills with a .153 average and has four aces.  Reyes Perez leads the team with 367 assists.  Sills leads the team with 182 digs, while Widera has a team-high 62 total blocks with six solo.  Mooney is second on the team in digs with 142, while Powell is third with 129.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the match on Tuesday at vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page.  Check back with the site for a complete recap of the match Tuesday evening.