VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State volleyball team (10-8, 4-4 GSC) returns home to The Complex for an early week matchup against Gulf South Conference foe, Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
 
All of the Blazer volleyball action will be available on vstateblazers.com where links can be found for live stats and streaming. Video streaming is offered through FloSports with a paid subscription. For more information on how to subscribe and watch nearly every Valdosta State athletic event, see here.
 
VSU is coming off a gritty 1-1 weekend road trip to Tennessee that saw the Blazers defeat GSC-newcomer Trevecca Nazarene in three sets on Friday evening before dropping a 3-2 five-set battle to Lee on Saturday afternoon. Over the two-game stretch, Pettigrew reached a career milestone when she tallied her 1000th career kill in the win over Trevecca on Friday. In three seasons as a Blazer, she sits at 633 kills while being a key-piece of the VSU program. This weekend, she showed out in both matchups, tallying a team-high 29 kills including a season-high 19 kills in the five-set loss to Lee on Saturday. For the stretch, she hit for .282 with just nine errors on 71 swings while also tallying two service aces. Defensively, the Copperas Cove, Tex. native recorded six total blocks including one solo rejection.
 
Along with Pettigrew, fellow 1000-kill club member, senior Jojo Smith tallied 27 kills over the weekend while also tallying her sixth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 16 digs in the thrilling five-setter against Lee. Meanwhile, senior Mackenzie Murray continued to find her stride offensively, racking up 24 kills including a team-high 12 kills in the 3-0 victory over Trevecca Nazarene. The dynamic duo of senior Audrey Bennett and redshirt-freshman Avery Mullins ran the Blazer offense with 43 assists apiece, accounting for 86 of VSU's 101 total assists last weekend. Defensively, junior Katie Callenberger led the team in blocks, recording eight total blocks over the weekend including one solo rejection while senior libero Kaia Baker kept points rolling with a team-high 42 digs for 5.25 digs a set.
 
For the overall season, Smith currently leads the Blazers on the offensive front, sitting at eighth in the conference with 203 kills on the year for a conference fifth-place 3.08 kills a set. She also ranks tenth in VSU history in the category with 1135 career kills. Bennett currently sits at sixth in the conference in assists with 473 on the year while she currently ranks seventh in VSU history with 1724 assists as a Blazer. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in aces with 25 while Callenberger leads the Blazers in blocks with 43 total rejections including 18 solo blocks. Baker currently ranks first in the conference in total digs with 329 total for a league-best 5.06 digs per set. The Blazers collectively also rank first in the GSC in digs per set, accumulating 16.98 digs a set.
 
Auburn Montgomery enters The Complex with a 5-14 overall record and a 2-8 mark in conference play. The Warhawks are coming off a 1-1 weekend, defeating Montevallo in a thrilling five-set contest  on Thursday night before dropping a 3-0 loss to Alabama Huntsville at home on Friday evening. AUM is under the direction of first-season head coach Craig Case who previously spent 13 seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce where he constructed an impressive 216-167 record at the helm of the program. AUM holds a narrow 8-6 lead in the program series against VSU since 2017 with the Blazers taking the most recent showdown in Montgomery 3-2 just a few weeks ago on October 1st.
 
In that contest, VSU went down early to Auburn Montgomery as the Warhawks took a two-set lead. With things looking grim, the Blazers shook off the rust and locked in, claiming the final three sets in what was a gritty, five-set slug fest, 3-2. Overall, VSU hit for .227 in the match with a season-high 63 kills on 176 hits and 23 miscues while AUM hit for .161 on 54 kills and 24 attack errors on 186 swings. Valdosta State was led by Smith (17 kills,18 digs)  and junior Sabrina Oncins (10 kills, 13 digs) who each recorded double-doubles along with Murray who tacked on 12 kills in the win.
 
Individually this season, the Warhawks are led by Maya Thompson, who does a little bit of everything on the court. She currently leads the team in kills with 222 while hitting a team-best .298 with 79 miscues in 480 attempts. Defensively, she leads the team with 61 total blocks and 17 solo rejections. Greta Corrente leads the team in service aces, recording .48 aces a set with 34 total service aces on the year. Meanwhile the duo of Campbell Gash (333 assists) and Savannah Sebek (312 assists) account for 645 of AUM's 716 assists.
 
Following Tuesday evening's matchup, the Blazers will hit the road, returning to Tennessee for a packed weekend in which VSU is set to compete in four matches against Union and Christian Brothers. Due to Hurricane Helene putting a pin in the home matchups against Union and Christian Brothers, those matchups are set to be made up on the road this weekend. The Blazers will take on Union on Friday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET before heading to Memphis to square off against Christian Brothers on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. For more information on those matchups as well as all things Valdosta State volleyball, visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.