Home Teams
VSU kicks off the tournament facing a regional rival in Saint Leo at 1 p.m. on Friday before facing Coker University at 7 p.m. Saturday's matches feature the Blazers facing Young Harris College at 1 p.m. and will conclude the tournament with Spring Hill College at 7 p.m.
There will be live stats of each match and streaming of the matches; links for those can be found at vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page. The matches will have a full livestream setup, featured on FloVolleyball (FloSports).
The Blazers (3-1) opened the 2023 home slate Tuesday with a convincing 3-1 (25-27, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16) victory over Coastal Georgia at The Complex. Junior
Christina Pettigrew led the Blazers with 15 kills and two blocks in what was a stellar performance. As a team, VSU tallied 54 kills to just 14 errors for a .292 hitting percentage. The Blazers also had 45 assists, 56 digs, six blocks, and seven aces. VSU held Coastal Georgia to an .031 hitting percentage as the Mariners had 32 kills and 28 errors in 130 swings.
Last Weekend the Blazers went 2-1 at the Lenoir-Rhyne Tournament in Hickory, N.C. The Blazers scored a 3-1 victory over the host Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne, followed by a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Mount Olive. VSU finished the weekend with a 3-0 win over Converse on Saturday afternoon, closing out its weekend tournament run. For the tournament, graduate student
Mallory Roney had a massive double-double, recording 12 kills and 11 digs against Mount Olive. As a team, the Blazers tallied 147 kills for the tournament in 422 swings, while they had 131 assists with 19 service aces and 179 digs. VSU recorded 34 blocks with six solo blocks.
For the season, VSU has 201 kills for a .209 hitting percentage in 559 swings. The Blazers have 176 assists with 26 service aces, while recording 235 digs and 40 total blocks with 10 solo rejections. Junior
Mackenzie Murray leads the team with 47 kills, while Pettigrew is second with 42. Junior
Audrey Bennett leads the team with 78 assists on the year. Sophomore
Gaby Ortiz has a team-high 57 digs on the year, while sophomore
Katie Callenberger leads the team with 20 total and has four solo blocks this season. Calleberger was also named Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the week for her excellent defensive play in the Lenoir-Rhyne Tournament last weekend.
For the tournament, Saint Leo enters with a 2-0 record after a 3-0 victory over Florida College on Tuesday. SLU defeated Edward Waters on Sept. 1, 3-0. Coker visits Titletown with a 2-2 record after dropping a 3-1 decision to Lenoir-Rhyne Tuesday evening. Prior to that, the Cobras went 2-1 in the Tony Fontanelle Memorial Volleyball Tournament in Mars Hill, N.C. last weekend. Coker defeated King (Tenn.) 3-1 before losing 3-1 to Shorter, closing out the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Bluefield State.
Young Harris College, out of the Conference Carolinas, went 2-1 at the Bobcat Classic at Georgia College last weekend. The only loss for the Mountain Lions came against the host Bobcats, 3-0 in the finale. YHC had wins over Albany State and West Georgia. The Mountain Lions are led by Lily Hidalgo with 37 kills, while Lyze Thigpen leads the team with 48 assists and Chase Vaigneur has 37 digs. Sophie Bearden leads the team with 11 total blocks and one solo block.
Spring Hill College is 3-0 on the year after going 3-0 at the SpringHill Suites Invitational, including a 3-1 win over No. 11 ranked Southwest Minnesota State last Friday. The Badgers then defeated Oklahoma Baptist 3-0 and GSC foe Mississippi College 3-1 on Saturday. SHC is hitting .182 for the season with 129 kills in 407 swings with 55 errors.
Following the tournament, the Blazers head to Augusta, Ga. for three matches next weekend Sept. 15-16, facing Augusta University, along with neutral site matches versus Georgia College and USC Aiken. The Blazers will return home Sept. 22 against GSC foe Shorter at The Complex at 6 p.m. Check back with vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page for the complete list of games and times for the tournament this weekend.
