VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State football team continues at home this week with Homecoming 2022, while volleyball, cross country and soccer all are on the road.  See below for information on each sport this week.
 
 
Volleyball

 
The Valdosta State volleyball team is set to compete in the Gulf South / Sunshine State Conference Regional Crossover in Hoover, Ala. on Oct. 14 and 15. VSU will open the crossover with Saint Leo on Oct. 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET and will conclude the weekend with Florida Tech at 10 a.m. ET and Rollins at 5:45 p.m. ET on Saturday.  
 
The Blazers enter the week with an 8-14 record and a 2-7 mark in the GSC. VSU is coming off a five-set win over West Alabama on Oct. 8 where the Blazers won 26-24, 18-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13. Sophomore Jojo Smith recorded a double-double and a season-high 20 kills in addition to 17 digs on defense.  The victory marked the first five-set win for the Blazers this season (1-3).
 
On the year, the Blazers have 861 kills, 1,224 digs and a conference-high 166 blocks and 175 aces. Individually, Sophomore Lyara Rosario leads the conference in aces per set with 0.61 and also service aces with 42. Sophomore Christina Pettigrew has a conference-high 86 blocks at the net and also averages a league-high 1.10 blocks per set.   Smith leads the Blazers' offense with 22 kills on the year while Rosario has a team-high 319 digs on defense.  
 
Saint Leo leads the all-time series 7-4 and snapped a four-match skid with a 3-1 win over the Blazers in Valdosta on Sept. 11, 2021.  This season, Saint Leo enters with a 5-12 record and a 1-8 mark in the Sunshine State Conference. The team has 727 kills, 812 digs and 93 service aces on the year while hitting .182. Ally-Reese Williams leads the Lions' offense with 147 kills while Skylar Singleton has a team-high 16 aces. On defense, Jeanette Henderson has a team-high 211 digs while  
Colby Stempkowski has 37 blocks at the net.  
 
Florida Tech and VSU are tied 2-2 all-time in the series as VSU has won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 victory in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sept. 13, 2019.  Prior to that the teams hadn't met since VSU won on Aug. 31, 2012, in Valdosta, 3-1.  The Panthers enter the crossover with an 8-9 record in 2022, and a 3-6 mark in the SSC. The team has 739 kills on the season in addition to 928 digs on defense, 105 blocks and 81 service aces. Katie Erdmann leads the offense with 258 kills while Kenzie Delacher has 22 aces. On defense, Karo Bogen has 277 digs and Devyn Glassgold has a team-high 36 blocks at the net.  
 
Rollins leads the all-time series 11-4, but VSU has won the last two meetings. This marks the first meeting between the two teams since Sept. 29, 2015, when VSU won 3-2 in Winter Park, Fla.  The Tars enter the crossover with a 4-13 record and a 2-7 mark in the SSC. The team is hitting .154 on the year and has 696 kills, 739 digs, 123.5 blocks and 82 aces. Lana Gerard leads the offense with 203 kills and 20 aces while Adriana Lopez has 206 digs on defense and Emma Begley has 64 blocks at the net.  
 
Following the crossover, the Blazers will return to GSC action, playing host to Alabama Huntsville on Oct. 21 and Montevallo on Oct. 22 at The Complex.  
 
Women's Soccer

 
The Valdosta State women's soccer team continues on the road this week with matches at West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville.  The Blazers and the Tigers kick at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 14, in Livingston, Ala., while VSU heads to UAH on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET to conclude the 2022 road regular season slate.
 
The Blazers enter with a 3-8-1 record overall and a 2-7 mark in the Gulf South Conference, looking to snap a five-match skid.  Most recently, the Blazers battled back from a 2-0 deficit at Christian Brothers on Sunday with a goal in the second half, but were unable to get the equalizer as they held a 17-10 lead in shots and a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.  Sophomore Kaley Mincy scored the goal in the 55^th minute.  She finished with three shots and the goal, her second of the season.  Freshman Victoria Bahr had a team-high five shots and three on frame.
 
VSU is searching for its 100^th victory in program history as it is 99-81-25 all-time since the program's inception in 2011 and is 68-44-17 in GSC play.  Sixth-year head coach Stephen Andrew also is looking for his 50^th victory at VSU as he is 49-37-7 at the helm of the Blazers for the winningest coach in program history.  Andrew is 39-23-5 in GSC play during his tenure in Titletown and is 189-192-16 all-time at VSU, Piedmont College and Huntingdon College over his 16-year coaching career.
 
For the season, Bahr leads the team with four goals and eight points.  She has 23 shots with 13 on target and one game winner.  Sophomore Molly Wooldridge is second in scoring with six points on three goals.  She has 21 shots with eight on frame and one game winner.  Sophomore Taylor Morris and senior Amber Saunders each have five points for third in scoring.  Morris and senior Morghan Craven each have three assists to lead the team.  
 
Between the pipes, sophomore Emma Pruett has played in ten matches with nine starts, logging 781 minutes, allowing 16 goals with 26 saves and has two shutouts with one combined shutout.  Junior Landon Carter has played in five matches with three starts for 299 minutes.  She has nine goals allowed with 13 saves and combined for a shutout.  
 
West Alabama sits tied for third in the league standings with a 6-2-1 mark in league play and a 7-4-1 record overall.  The Tigers are 5-0 this season at home and are 3-0-1 in their last four matches overall, including a 0-0 tie at Montevallo on Sunday.  Leading the way for the Tigers this season is Dana Cruz with six goals and five assists for 17 points.  She has 25 shots with 13 on target and one game winner.  Paige Laidler is second in scoring with four goals and one assist for 19 points.  She has 19 sots and 13 on goal.  In goal, Maria Mon has started all 12 matches, allowing 15 goals with 53 saves and two shutouts. 
 
VSU leads the all-time series 6-5-2, while UWA is 3-2-1 in Livingston.  VSU's last win in Livingston came in a 4-3 victory on Sept. 17, 2017.  The Blazers snapped a four-match skid with a 3-1 victory in Valdosta last season on Oct. 22, 2021.  Wooldridge scored the third Blazer goal of the match and finished with three shots and two on target.  Pruett went all 90 minutes, allowing one goal and had two saves.
 
UAH enters with a 2-4-3 record in league play and a 3-6-4 mark overall as it has tied its last two matches.  The Chargers played to a 1-1 draw at Montevallo on Oct. 7 and a scoreless decision at Auburn Montgomery on Sunday.  UAH will host West Georgia before the Blazers visit Sunday.
 
The Chargers are led by Carmen Endicott who leads the team with eight points on four goals. She has a team-high 36 shots and 16 on target with one game winner.  Maialen Mera Torres is second in scoring with seven points on three goals and one assist, while Caroline Buchanan leads the team with two assists.  In goal, Hailey Hicks has logged 500:54 minutes, allowing five goals (0.90 GAA), with 23 saves in seven matches with five starts.  Adriana Wright has started eight matches allowing 15 goals with a team-high 45 saves and one shutout.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series 8-3 with UWA and has won three-straight matches in the series, including a 1-0 victory in Valdosta on Oct. 24, 2021.  Wooldridge scored the lone goal in the match in the 27^th minute.  The Blazers are 3-2 in matches played in Huntsville and won 2-1 there in 2019.
 
Men's and Women's Cross Country
 
The Blazer men's and women's cross country teams are set to race in the UAB XC invitational in Montevallo, Ala., at the Montevallo Cross Country Course on Friday, Oct. 14.  The women's race is slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET while the men's race follows suit at 10:40 a.m. ET.  
 
The teams are coming off the FSU Invite at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. The women's team placed 20th out of all 30 teams and eighth out of nine NCAA DII teams while sophomore Kaitlyn Coske finished as the top VSU finisher with a PR time of 18:49.9. Of the DII teams, the top six teams were regionally ranked in the top eight of either the South or Southeast Regions.  For the men, the Blazers took home 16th overall out of 30 teams as senior Brishen House was the top Blazer finisher with a time of 25:10.0.  
 
The women's 6K race this week will feature 23 teams, including GSC foes Mississippi College, Delta State and Montevallo while the men's 8K race will feature 19 teams with Mississippi College and Montevallo's men's teams competing.  
 
Following the UAB race, the Blazer cross country teams will look towards the postseason as the GSC XC Championship is slated for Nov. 5 at the Montevallo Cross Country Course.  
 
Football

The Blazers look to get back on the winning track as they host Mississippi College on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. for Homecoming 2022 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.  The Blazers are 3-3 on the year and 1-2 in Gulf South Conference play, while Mississippi College enters with a 3-3 record and a 2-1 mark in league play.
 
Check back later in the week for complete game notes for VSU on vstateblazers.com.