VALDOSTA, Ga. – This Week in Blazer Athletics features home games for soccer and volleyball, a highly competitive cross country race with numerous Division I and Division II institutions and the opening of the Gulf South Conference slate for football on the road.
 
Men's and Women's Cross Country 

 
Fresh off an outstanding race last weekend in Tallahassee for the Blazer men's cross country team, taking medalist honors with 40 points and a team time of 2:15:13, senior Brishen House finished second in the race with a time of 26:07.6, while senior Logan Kraus finished third at 26:24.5.  VSU had five of the top 20 finishers on the men's side.  
 
The women's team was led by sophomore Caitlyn Koske with a time of 19:07.4 as she finished tenth with a personal best time of nearly 40 seconds.  Kyleigh Rice finished 29^th at 20:16.4, while Katie LaCroix finished 33^rd at 20:20.3. Both Rice and LaCroix also had PRs.  The women's team finished sixth as a team.
 
Both teams have a chance to continue the momentum from last week at the Queen City Invitational with a strong contingent of NCAA Division II programs.  The Queens City Invite features schools across NCAA divisions including GSC foes West Florida, West Georgia, Alabama Huntsville, Christian Brothers, Lee, Mississippi College and Shorter. The race will also feature NCAA South Region foes Saint Leo, North Greenville, Newberry, Georgia College, Flagler, Embry-Riddle, Clayton State and Bentley. 
 
NCAA 2021 men's cross country defending national champions Grand Valley State is scheduled to participate, as well as the women's team, who was the national runner-up in last year's championship. Wingate, who took fifth in last year's women's championship and sixth in the men's championship, is also set to race. 
 
Volleyball

 
The Blazer volleyball team returns home for just the second and third home matches of the season beginning Friday at 6 p.m. versus Union University and on Saturday at 1 p.m. versus Christian Brothers.  VSU is coming off a tough road trip, falling at No. 11 West Florida 3-0 on Sept. 13, and held a 1-0 lead at West Georgia last Saturday, before losing the next three games for a 3-1 setback.  VSU stands at 6-9 on the year and 0-2 in GSC play.  The Blazers are hitting .164 on the year and have recorded 611 kills, 837 digs, 112 blocks, and 120 aces. VSU currently leads the GSC in total blocks and service aces, second nationally.  
 
Graduate student-athlete Mallory Roney has a team-high 143 kills on the year, good for third in the GSC, while hitting .261 and has recorded eight aces, 102 digs and 28 blocks.  Sophomore Jojo Smith has 135 kills on the year through 49 sets along with 15 service aces, 98 digs and 21 blocks.  
 
Sophomore Lyara Rosario currently sits third nationally and top of the GSC in service aces with 35, and leads the GSC in aces per set, averaging 0.67 per set. She has 248 digs on the year, good for second in the GSC, along with 12 kills. Sophomore Christina Pettigrew has recorded a team-high 58 blocks at the net, good for first in the GSC and 12^th nationally, while also having 19 aces, 85 kills, 19 service aces and 20 digs.  
 
The Union Bulldogs travel to Valdosta with a 10-4 record and a 3-0 mark in the GSC. The team is coming off a 3-0 sweep over Shorter last Saturday and currently sits second in the GSC behind West Florida. UU is currently hitting .210 on the year and has recorded 572 kills, 99 aces, 745 digs and 87 blocks. Emily Grace Calhoon leads the team in kills with 128, while Sydney Sample has a team-high 204 digs and Alyssa Tatsch has 37 blocks.  
 
The Buccaneers enter the week with a 2-7 record and a 1-2 mark in the GSC and sit ninth in the league just ahead of VSU.  CBU will face West Georgia on Sept. 23 in Carrollton, Ga., before coming to Titletown. The team is hitting .133 on the year and has 50 aces, 474 digs, 39 blocks and 344 kills. Maddi Rowley has a team-high 104 kills on the year while Tia Rizvi has 107 digs on the year and a team-high 13 service aces.  
 
Women's Soccer 

 
The Blazer women's soccer team returns home to host Shorter on Friday evening at 7 p.m., and then host the GSC preseason favorite Lee Flames Sunday at 1 p.m.  VSU snapped a three-match skid with a 2-0 victory on Sunday at Spring Hill College.  The Blazers now are 2-3-1 overall and 1-2 in GSC play.  Freshman Victoria Bahr scored both goals on Sunday, with her first score coming just 2:39 into the match and the insurance goal in the 88^th minute.  VSU tallied its second clean sheet of the season as sophomore goalkeeper Emma Pruett had four saves in the contest.
 
Through six matches this season, the Blazers have scored six goals with 72 shots and 34 on target, while recording four assists and 40 corner kicks.  In goal, the team has 20 saves as Bahr and senior Amber Saunders each lead the team with two goals scored.  Bahr and senior Hannah Schroeder each have game winners this season, while senior Morghan Craven has a team-high two assists.  Sophomore Kaley Mincy leads the team with 13 shots and five on target.
 
In goal, Pruett has played all 540 minutes with 20 saves and eight goals allowed for a 1.33 goals against average.  She has a .714 save percentage and registered two shutouts.  
 
Shorter enters with an 0-8-1 record and a 0-4 mark in the GSC.  The Hawks have not scored a goal since a 2-2 tie to Faulkner on Sept. 2 for a span of 469:57 minutes as they have lost their last five matches.  They have been outscored 26-0 during the five matches and 42-2 for the season.  Ciara Chacon has one of the goals this season, while Kayla Watts has the other.  Haley Cox leads the team with three shots.  In goal, Katherine Fisher has started eight games for 449:40 minutes, allowing 23 goals, with 45 saves, while Chloe Ravish has played in seven matches with one start and allowed 19 goals.  She has 30 saves on the year.
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Shorter, 9-1-1 and has won the last five meetings and gone 5-0-1 in the last six.  Shorter won 1-0 on Sept. 25, 2015, for the lone SU victory.  The Blazers have outscored Shorter 14-3 over the last five meetings.  VSU last won in Valdosta in a 2-1 decision in double overtime on Mar. 12, 2021, during the spring season after the fall season had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  
 
The Blazers won last fall in Rome, 4-2, on Oct. 1.  In that game, SU's Juliana Torres scored just 1:05 into the contest, but sophomore Taylor Morris tied the game with a goal in the 37^th minute and then VSU scored three goals within 7:26 midway through the second half to take command.  Sophomore Molly Wooldridge and senior Samantha Worley each had goals in the game along with Morris, while senior Bailey Hern added an assist among players returning this season.
 
The Flames enter the week with a 5-0-3 record overall and a 3-0-1 mark in the GSC.  Lee is coming off a pair of 2-0 wins at home over Mississippi College and Delta State.  The Flames will travel to Carrollton, Ga., for a matchup with West Georgia on Friday, before heading to Titletown for Sunday's contest.
 
Lee's Ellie Crisler leads the team with ten goals and two assists for 22 points. She has 35 shots on the year with 20 on goal and a team-high three game winners.  Grace Berry has three goals and three assists for nine points on 19 shots and 11 on frame.  In all eight different players have scored goals this season for the Flames as they have 21 goals and 19 assists on the year.  The Flames have registered 136 shots (.154%) with 59 on target for a .434 clip.  Crisler is seventh nationally in points per game at 2.75, while she is seventh nationally in goals per game at a 1.25 clip.  Her ten scores places her second nationally, while her 22 points also are good for second nationally.  Crisler's three game winners is good for third nationally.
 
In goal, Josie Taylor has started eight matches for 658:44 minutes, allowing just four goals for a 0.55 goals against average and recorded 25 saves.  She is 5-0-3 with three shutouts and one combined clean sheet. 
 
Lee leads the all-time series 8-2-1 and has gone 2-0-1 in the last three meetings.  The teams tied 2-2 in Valdosta in the spring of 2021.  VSU won 2-0 in Valdosta in 2019 as Lee entered No. 17 nationally.  VSU also won 1-0 in 2017 in Cleveland, Miss.  
 
FOOTBALL
at Shorter – Saturday, Sept. 24, 12 p.m., Rome, Ga. (Baron Stadium)

Fresh off a record-setting performance at Miles College on Saturday, the No. 13/15 Valdosta State football team opens Gulf South Conference play Saturday at 12 p.m. at Shorter University in Rome, Ga. 
The Blazers won 55-7 at Miles College and tallied 700 yards of total offense for the second-highest output in program history, while senior quarterback Ivory Durham threw a career-high six touchdown passes marking the first time that has happened since former Blazer Rogan Wells also tossed six TD's at Mississippi College in 2018.  Durham's six touchdown passes marked the 20^th time in GSC history a quarterback tallied six touchdowns.  Former Blazers Chris Hatcher and Dusty Bonner each had seven touchdowns in a game, marking the school-record and both tied the Gulf South Conference record.  Durham earned Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honors as he was 14 of 27 passing for 359 yards, while he had ten carries for 110 yards in the game.

On defense, the Blazers held Miles to 184 yards of total offense and just 69 yards passing.  Freshman Terrell Dudley had nine solo tackles and a huge sack in his first collegiate start. 

Check back with vstateblazers.com later in the week for complete game notes of the Blazer football game at Shorter.