VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off two big wins last weekend, the Valdosta State women's soccer team returns to the road this week as it travels to the Magnolia State for a pair of games beginning Friday with a 2 p.m. ET matchup with Delta State, followed by a 2 p.m. ET match at Mississippi College on Sunday.  
 
The Blazers enter with a 5-2-3 record overall and a 3-2-1 record in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU currently is tied for fifth in the league standings with Alabama Huntsville as each have ten conference points.  Mississippi College sits one point behind VSU/UAH in the conference standings as the Choctaws are 4-2-1 overall and a 3-2 in league play.  Delta State enters the week with a 2-7-1 record overall and a 1-4 mark in league play.  
 
Lee leads the conference standings with a 5-0-1 record for 16 points, while West Alabama and West Georgia are tied for second at 4-1-1 in league play with 13 points and West Florida is fourth with 12 points and a 4-1 mark in the GSC.  The top eight teams in the final conference standings at the conclusion of the regular season earn a berth in the GSC Championship.  
 
The Blazers went 2-1-1 over the last four home games and had two players earn Gulf South Conference Players of the Week this week as sophomore Hunter Wallace was named GSC Player of the Week, while sophomore Claire Timberlake was named GSC Defensive Player of the Week.  It marked the first honors of their careers for both student-athletes as Wallace, a Pensacola, Fla., native, scored her first two career goals and two game winners this weekend in a 2-1 win over Christian Brothers and a 2-0 win over Union.  Wallace came off the bench in both matches, logging 95 minutes with five shots – all on target and the two game winners.  She broke a 1-1 tie in the 81^st minute for the eventual game winning goal against Christian Brothers and then had the first game and game winner against Union.  
 
Timberlake, a native of Largo, Fla., and Seminole High School, went 2-0 this week in 180 minutes between the pipes, including her first clean sheet of the season.  She allowed one goal (0.50 GAA), registered four saves and faced eight shots.  For the season, she is 2-0-1 on the year with a 0.64 GAA in 281:23 minutes, allowing two goals, eight saves and faced 20 shots with one shutout.   Wallace and Timberlake join senior Ana Moleka, junior Molly Wooldridge and freshman Tori Vliet as the five Blazers who have earned GSC weekly honors this season.
 
This season, the Blazers are 31^st nationally and tops in the GSC in shots on goal per game at an 8.30 clip per game, with 83 shots on goal this season for a .565 average.  The team is 21^st in assists for second in the league (16), while the Blazers are fourth in the league in goals (20) and fourth in points (56).  VSU is sixth in the league in scoring offense averaging two goals per game.  VSU has 147 shots total this season for a .136 clip.  
 
Individually, Wallace is tied for the league-lead in game winning goals (2), while Moleka and junior Ansley Decenzo are third in the league in total assists (3), while Moleka is fourth in the league in goals (6) and second in the league in total points (15) for 28^th nationally.   In goal, Timberlake is 2-0-1 in 281:23 minutes with a 0.64 goals against average, eight saves, one shutout and 20 shots faced.  Vliet is 2-2-1 this season in 483:37 minutes with a 1.49 GAA, eight goals against, 15 saves and faced 52 shots.  Junior Emma Pruett has logged 135 minutes with a 1-0-1 record, one goal allowed, two saves, one shutout and faced 11 shots.   
 
Blazer head coach Stephen Andrew is 55-42-10 all-time at VSU in his seventh season, while he is 195-97-19 all-time in 17 seasons of coaching.  Andrew is 4-1 all-time against Delta State at VSU and 0-5 against Mississippi College.  VSU is 9-1-1 all-time against Delta State, but the Lady Statesmen won their first game in the series with a 5-2 victory last season in Valdosta on Oct. 2.  Prior to that, the Blazers had blanked DSU in seven-straight matches and in all nine victories overall in the series.  The teams tied 2-2 in Cleveland, Miss., on Sept .21, 2013.  VSU has outscored DSU 15-7 in the 11 meetings.
 
Delta State enters with 12 goals scored and 19 allowed this season, as it has 102 shots (.118) with 43 on frame (.422), seven assists, 43 corner kicks and 1 for 1 in penalty kicks.  The Lady Statesmen have allowed 19 goals, 14 assists and have allowed the opposition 117 shots and 55 on target.  Ava Webster leads the team with five goals on six shots and two game winners.  Bailey Daugherty has played all 900 minutes in goal, allowing 19 goals (1.90 GAA), 33 saves, two shutouts and faced 117 shots.  Head coach Joel Robinson is in first season at DSU and second year as a head coach as he was at Fresno Pacific in 2022 where he was 8-7-2.  Overall, he is 10-14-3 as a head coach as the Lady Statesmen were picked seventh in the preseason GSC poll, one spot in front of VSU.  
 
Mississippi College was tabbed league favorite in the preseason coaches poll and the Choctaws are coming off wins over Union (1-0) and Delta State (3-0) and will host West Georgia before entertaining the Blazers on Sunday.  The Choctaws have scored 16 goals this season and allowed seven, while they have 103 shots (.155) and 40 on target (.388), with 11 assist and 27 corner kicks.  Erin Hederman leads the team with three goals and three assists, while she has a team-high 23 shots (.130) and seven on goal (.304) with one game winner.  In goal, Jessi Carro is 3-2-1 this season in six starts, allowing five goals (0.83 GAA), registering 18 saves with three shutouts and faced 51 shots.  Madison North has started one game, allowing two goals on nine shots faced and three saves. 
 
The Choctaws lead the all-time series with VSU 7-0-1 and have won the last seven meetings.  MC won 4-0 in Valdosta last season on Oct. 4.  The Choctaws have outscored VSU 16-2 in the eight meetings as the teams tied the first meeting on Oct. 5, 2014, in Valdosta, 1-1.  VSU scored a goal in a 4-1 loss in Clinton, Miss., on Oct. 8, 2021. 
 
Following the two matches this week, the Blazers continue on the road next week as they travel to Lee (Oct. 13) and at Shorter (Oct. 15).  VSU then returns home to host Spring Hill (Oct. 20) and West Florida (Oct. 22) to close out the regular season home slate.  The Blazers then end the regular season at West Georgia on Oct. 27.