VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State volleyball team (11-8, 5-4 GSC) has a packed weekend as it heads back up to Tennessee to face off with Union and Chrsitian Brothers. The Blazers will take on both teams twice to make up the meetings that were postponed due to Hurricane Helene. VSU will take on Union in a pair of matches on Friday set for 10 a.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET before heading to Memphis to face Christian Brothers on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
 
All 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.
 
The Blazers are coming off of a successful mid-week match up that saw VSU ground Auburn Montgomery in three quick sets to earn the season-sweep over the Warhawks. Senior Mackenzie Murray led the Blazers on the offensive front in the contest, racking up a match-high 10 kills while hitting for .364 on the evening. Senior Christina Pettigrew also put together a note-worth performance, delivering eight kills while leading Valdosta State in blocks with three total rejections including a pair of solo blocks. Senior libero Kaia Baker kept points rolling for the Blazers, finishing the match with a game-high 15 digs. Meanwhile, senior setter Audrey Bennett led Valdosta State with 20 assists while redshirt-freshman Avery Mullins added 10.
 
For the overall season, Smith currently leads the Blazers on the offensive front, sitting at tenth in the conference with 209 kills on the year for a conference seventh-place 3.03 kills a set. She also ranks tenth in VSU history in the category with 1141 career kills. Bennett currently sits at sixth in the conference in assists with 493 on the year while she currently ranks seventh in VSU history with 1744 assists as a Blazer. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in aces with 27 while junior Katie Callenberger leads the Blazers in blocks with 44 total rejections including 19 solo blocks. Baker currently ranks first in the conference in total digs with 344 total for a league-best 5.06 digs per set. The Blazers collectively also rank first in the GSC in digs per set, accumulating 17.07 digs a set.
 
Union enters Friday's matches with a 5-14 overall record and a 3-7 mark in the conference. The Bulldogs most recently dropped a 3-1 loss to Trevecca Nazarene on the road Tuesday night, dropping three straight sets after winning the opening frame. Union is under the direction of head coach Kristen Blackburn who is 11-39 in her second season with the program. The Blazers hold the advantage in match-history against the Bulldogs, 13-6, dating back to 2012. Despite this, Union has claimed wins in four of the last five meetings with the Blazers taking the most recent meeting in three-sets at Union in 2023.
 
As a team, Union excels on the serve, ranking second in the conference in both total team service aces (142) and aces per set (2.06). Reese Owens leads the charge for the Lady Bulldogs in the category, ranking first in the conference in aces per set, earning .51 a frame for a total of 35 on the year. Owens also leads the team in kills with 203 on the year, good for 2.99 kills a set. Defensively, Union is led by Jordan Moore who leads the team in blocks with 40, including 11 solo rejections.
 
Christian Brothers comes into the weekend with a 6-14 overall record while sitting at 2-8 in the GSC. The Lady Bucs are coming off of a hard-fought 3-1 match at Lee Tuesday night and will host West Florida on Friday night prior to the Blazers arrival on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Christian Brothers program is led by first-year head coach Jared Marks. The match-history between VSU and CBU has been close since 2006 with Valdosta State holding a narrow advantage, 13-11. The Blazers are currently on a five-game win streak against the Lady Bucs, winning last season's match 3-1 on the road.
 
Individually, Christian Brothers is led on offense by the duo of Calah Jackson (212 kills) and Ella Schumacher (211 kills) who account for 423 of the Lady Bucs' 808 total kills. Meanwhile, setter Sarah Allyn Thornell runs the offense with 592 assists while Jordan Allen leads the team in service aces with 25. On the Defensive side of the net, Abby Wheaton leads CBU in blocks with 30 this season including eight solo rejections.
 
Following this weekend's matchups, the Blazer volleyball team has a packed home stretch next week, hosting West Florida on Tuesday night before Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville come to town on Friday and Saturday. For more information on those matches as well as all things Valdosta State volleyball, make sure to visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.