THE BASICS:

Score: #17 Central Missouri 3, Valdosta State 0 (25-14, 25-16, 27-25)
Records: Valdosta State 0-1, #17 Central Missouri 1-0 
Location: Tampa, Fla. (University of Tampa)

THE LEAD: In its 2019 season-opener, the Valdosta State volleyball team fell to No. 17 Central Missouri in three sets (25-14, 25-16, 27-25) The Blazers got off to a slow start in the first two sets which allowed the Jennies to take a commanding 2-0 lead. In the final set, the Blazers had a late rally in the third set, but it was not enough to overcome the solid performance from the Jennies.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Set 1): 

• The Blazers got off to a quick 7-4 lead by taking advantage of early errors from the Jennies, and held an 11-9 lead, but UCM rattled off a 14-3 run to win 25-14 in the second set for a 2-0 lead. 
• CMU hit .304 for the first set with 10 kills, but seven errors by the Blazers proved costly in the opening stanza.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Set 2): 

• The Jennies jumped out to an early lead and never looked back winning, 25-16. 
• The Blazers attempted a comeback, but their .172 hit percentage eventually doomed them. 
• Five service errors also hurt the Blazers in the second set.
• The Blazers rallied and closed the gap to seven, before the Jennies scored back-to-back kills to take the set.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED (SET 3):

• The Blazers improved drastically in set number three with a hitting percentage of .300 and tallied a VSU-high 13 kills in the set to just four errors. 
• VSU held a 14-10 lead midway through the set, but the Jennies kept chipping away to climb back into the third game.
• The set saw ties at 16, 17, 18 and 19, before CMU took a 22-19 lead on two errors by the Blazers and a kill from the Jennies.
• A miscue by UCM pulled VSU within 23-22 and the Blazers tied the set at 24 on a kill from senior Kayla Widera.
• VSU tied the set, once again, at 25, but a pair of kills by the Jennies made the final score 27-25 for the UCM victory.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
·      The Blazers really struggled in the first two sets of the match as they hit .040 for the first set and improved to .172 for the second, while hitting .300 for the third set.
·      Sophomore Jessie Mooney had double-digit kills for the match with 11 in total, as the team recorded 28 kills in 84 swings.
·      Junior Tammy Reyes-Perez had ten digs to lead the team, while junior Rebecca Sills added nine digs in her first match for the red and black. 
·      Reyes-Perez recorded a double-double with ten digs and 23 assists, while senior Daria Powell and junior Grace Daughtery paced the Blazers with two blocks each.
·       The Jennies hit .280 for the match (.419 in the second set) and totaled 46 kills, as Rylee Neigenfind had a match-high 12 kills.  
 
UP NEXT:
·      VSU continues tournament play tomorrow against Indiana (Pa.) at 5:15 PM ET.
·      The Blazers then will play a doubleheader against No. 5 Concordia St. Paul top-ranked Tampa on Saturday. 
·      Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the matches on vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page.