VALDOSTA, Ga. – As we look back at different moments in VSU athletic history, today we'll gaze at the Blazer volleyball team's sweep against Shorter University in 2018.
           
On Sept. 11, 2018, Valdosta State's women's volleyball head coach Kaleigh Zoucha would embark on her first conference game against Shorter University. The new coach recorded her first Gulf South Conference win as the Blazers defeated the Hawks 3-0. With their best conference and overall record since the 2015 season, VSU aimed to be top contenders in the GSC once again.
 
After the Converse Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. the weekend before, the Blazers traveled back to The Complex to await their next opponent, the Shorter University Hawks. The Hawks finished the previous season with a 19-11 record and were ranked two spots above Valdosta in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Poll. The Blazers knew it was going to be no easy feat, but Zoucha got the team prepared to start conference play on the right foot.
 
The first set was back-and-forth, with eight lead changes and with a score that was tied seven times. The Blazers tied it up at 9-9 before they were able to go on a 6-2 run with help from Jessie Mooney's four kills which gave the momentum they needed moving forward. The Hawks were able to regain ground and tie it up at 18 but after they committed a service error, there was no looking back for the Blazers who won the set 25-20. Mooney, who was a freshman, led the Blazers in kills during that set as she recorded five of her 12 kills.
 
The second set played different than the first, as the Hawks tied the game at 2-2 but couldn't handle the Blazers who lead the entire game after. With a set score of 25-19, the team would head into the final set with a great amount of momentum from the first two sets and with the goal to get Zoucha her first conference win at home during her first conference game.
 
Shorter would get off to a quick lead, going up 5-2 on the Blazers but five-straight serves from Dariah Powell gave the team the lead at 8-5. They would replicate what they had done in the middle set and not give up the lead for the rest of the game, although Shorter pulled within two late in the set. The final push wasn't enough though as the Blazers won off an attack error to complete the sweep and earn Zoucha her first Gulf South Conference win.
 
Sophomore Tammy Reyes-Perez put up a season-high 45 assists which helped the Blazers finish the match with 52 kills, where senior outside hitter Chloe Chubilleau accounted for 15 of those.
 
The Blazers would finish the season with a conference record of 10-6 which placed them as the fifth seed in the Gulf South Conference tournament, four spots ahead of their preseason placement. Chubilleau finished her senior season with a team and career high of 298 kills and Reyes-Perez would top off her sophomore year with 1,147 assists. Junior middle blocker Kayla Widera was named to Second Team All-Gulf South Conference as she ranked sixth in the conference in total blocks with 107 which came with 32 solo blocks.
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for more exciting dates in VSU history throughout the 2020-21 season.