Match Information
Score: Flagler 3, Valdosta State 1 (25-20, 25-21, 25-19, 30-28)
Records: VSU (1-2), Flagler (2-1)
Location: St. Augustine Fla. (Flagler College)
 
ST. AUGUSTINE Fla. – The Valdosta State Blazer volleyball team falls to Flagler in the third match of the Flagler Saints Invitational Saturday afternoon while Kylie Stroehlein and Zoe Mooney both record double doubles. This was Mooney's second straight double double of the 2021 season.
 
First Set: 
The Blazers start the match off strong 2-1 with a kill by Deona Mims with the help of Tammy Reyes-Perez. A block error and service error by VSU, brought the score to 4-2 with the Blazers in the lead. Flagler then tied the game 4-4 with a service ace. The Blazers started a rally with three kills by Perez, Mooney, and Rebecca Sills, making the game 11-5. The Saints scratched to fight back with a kill and an attack error on VSU making the score 15-12. Kills and service aces brought the Blazers closer to victory making the score 21-16, but a few Blazer errors brought the Saints back into the game. After a Blazer timeout, two kills by Mooney and an ace by Perez led VSU to a first set victory of 25-20.
 
Second Set: 
A service ace by Perez started the second set off for the Blazers but was immediately followed by two kills from the Saints. Flagler's attacking errors tied the game back up at four. Flagler then went on a rally, but VSU recovered with two aces by Stroehlein and a kill by Mooney making the score 9-8 in favor of the Blazers. The game stayed steady back and forth between the Blazers with the Blazers on top, but the Saints slowly started to catch back up and tie the match at 19 with a kill. A few attack errors by VSU and kills for Flagler, the Saints took the set 25-21.
 
Third Set:
VSU started off the third set with a ball handling error but immediately recovered with a kill by Deona Mims which set the Blazers up with a rally bringing the score to 6-4. Flagler slowly came back and tried to creep away from the Blazers, but with a bad set and attacking errors by the Saints, the Blazers were able to stay on top making the score 11-10. Flagler's head coach Matt Affolder received a yellow card at 15-13, in favor of the Saints, on what they believed was a bad call which was ruled as a replay. After a kill by Jessie Mooney and the help of Tammy Reyes-Perez, Flagler slowly pulled away, but Coach Zoucha called a timeout looking to regroup her team. A kill from Jessie Mooney made the score 18-15 which sent VSU's Megan Stanton back to the serving line looking to start a rally. A kill and a block by the Saints made the score 22-19 but a service error gave the ball to VSU. However, Flagler proceeded to end the set 25-19 with a kill.
 
Fourth Set:
VSU started off the fourth set strong, coming out with a double block by Deona Mims and Kennedy Deluca. A kill by Deona Mims and Kylie Stroehlein put the Blazers on top 3-1. VSU then started a rally which led Flagler to call a timeout at 5-1. A net violation and a few hitting errors by the Blazers led Flagler to tie the game back up at eight. The Blazers proceed to take control back of the set when Flagler called a timeout after a hitting error making the score 14-11. Megan Stanton picked up an ace, continuing to score for the Blazers. After a few long rallies, errors from VSU and kills from Flagler, the Saints came back up to tie the game at 16. Flagler continued to build its lead with kills and a net violation from the Blazers, which brought the score to 20-17. Coming out of a timeout, VSU scratched to fight back with a kill by Kylie Strohlein and a Flagler hitting error, putting the Blazers on top 21-20. A Saints service ace tied the game back up which then leads to a VSU timeout with the score of 23-22. A kill by Jessie Mooney sent the Blazers back to the serving line, looking to finish the game, but a service error tied the game back up at 25. The game proceeded to go on with each team switching back and forth between points but a block and a kill by Flagler brought an end to the match with a score of 30-28.
 
Inside the Numbers: 
The Blazers finished the match with 40 kills, but 30 errors proved costly as the team hit .054 for the match. Flagler recorded 53 kills with 31 errors and hit .124 for the match. Mooney led the team with 13 kills while Stroehlein followed closely behind with 12. Mims also added eight kills with two blocks. The Blazers had a total of nine service aces five from Stroehlein, two from Perez and Stanton. Perez led the team with 29 assists with Mooney and Sills also added two. Rosario led the Blazers with 26 digs while Stroehlein added 19 and Mooney added 10.

UP NEXT:
VSU faces Lewis University later today at 5 p.m. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page.