Match Information
Score: Valdosta State 3, Belmont Abbey 2 (19-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 15-8)
Records: VSU (1-1), BA (0-2)
Location: St. Augustine Fla. (Flagler College)
 
ST. AUGUSTINE Fla. – Coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss in the opener of the Flagler Saints Invitational Friday morning, the Valdosta State volleyball team dug deep and battled back from a 2-1 deficit for a thrilling 3-2 victory over Belmont Abbey Friday evening.  Blazer duo of senior Jessie Mooney and graduate student Deona Mims each had double-digit kills in the match, while senior setter Tammy Reyes-Perez finished with 34 assists.  Mooney finished with a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs.
 
First Set: 
In a tightly contested battle throughout, the first set saw both teams exchange the lead and points early.  VSU broke a 10-10 score with six-straight points on three kills from Mooney and three errors by Belmont Abbey.  The Crusaders rallied to tie the set at 18 with an 8-2 run. A kill by Jenna McCullough put BA up 19-18 for a lead it would never relinquish and closed the set outscoring VSU 15-3 since the 16-10 Blazer lead.
 
Second Set: 
The theme of the second set was the Blazers capitalizing on a match-high 13 errors by the Crusaders as BA hit -.276 for the set which led to big runs by VSU.  BA opened the set with a 4-1 spurt, but the Blazers responded with an 8-0 run for a 9-4 lead on serves from redshirt freshman Lyara Rosario. The Crusaders pulled within 10-7, but four errors by BA and a pair of Blazer kills swelled the VSU lead to 16-7.  BA pulled within 20-14 later in the set, but VSU didn't sweat and finished it off scoring five of the final six points.
 
Third Set:
VSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set and a 9-3 advantage, but BA responded with six-straight points to tie the set at 9-9.  The Crusaders took the lead with two more points and a 11-9 advantage for an 8-0 run total.  The Blazers tied the set at 14 on a kill by Mims, but BA's Lauren Hamilton quickly put away an attempt for a 15-14 lead.  VSU tied the set, once again, at 18-18, but BA closed it out with a 7-3 run and a 2-1 lead in sets. 
 
Fourth Set:
Needing a win to force the pivotal fifth set, the Blazers scored eight of the first 11 points on a good service run from Mims.  The Crusaders then pulled within 11-9 on an ace from Hailey Ryan, but three quick points from VSU pushed the lead to 14-9 on kills from Mooney and an error.  The Crusaders took an 18-17 lead with four-straight points, but an error on the ensuing serve proved costly tying the set at 18.  Belmont Abbey pushed the lead to 20-18, but the Blazers dug deep erasing the deficit and took a 21-20.  A kill from Hamilton pulled the Crusaders even, but VSU had the answer, scoring the final four points to force the fifth set.
 
Fifth Set:
The Blazers broke a 4-4 tie with a kill from Mims and an error en route to an 8-0 run (down 4-3) for a 10-4 lead.  Two attack errors and kills from Mims and Mooney put the match away for the Blazers, 15-8. 
 
Inside the Numbers: 
The Blazers hit .163 for the match and got it done in the fourth and fifth sets, hitting .318 for the fifth and .273 for the fourth.  BA had 17 errors in the final two sets and hit -.045 in the fifth set.  For the match the Crusaders hit .075 with 51 kills, 40 errors in 146 swings, while VSU had 44 kills with 21 errors in 141 swings.  Along with Mims, Mooney and Reyes-Perez, freshman Kylie Stroehlein added eight kills and 11 digs and Rosario added 11 digs.  Ryan had a match-high 23 digs for the Crusaders, while Hamilton led the way with 16 kills. 

UP NEXT:
VSU faces the host Saints at 1 p.m. on Saturday and closes the tournament with No. 6-ranked Lewis University (Ill.) at 5 p.m. Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats and streaming of the matches and recaps of the matches tomorrow.