VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State volleyball team (17-9, 11-5 GSC) is set to make its final regular season road trip this weekend when it takes on West Alabama in Livingston on Friday evening before squaring off with Mississippi College on Saturday afternoon.
 
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 massive 2-0 homestand last weekend, defeating conference-heavy hitters Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville. VSU went on a clean sweep this weekend, winning six-straight sets on Friday and Saturday against the Falcons and Chargers. With the pair of wins, the Blazers clinched a spot in the Gulf South Conference Championship Tournament. Valdosta State is currently sitting in third in the conference just behind UAH in second and West Florida in first.
 
For the weekend, senior Christina Pettigrew led the Blazers on offense, racking up a team-high 27 kills while hitting a staggering .610 with just two errors in 41 attacks. Pettigrew also had a notable three solo blocks over the stretch. Meanwhile, senior Jojo Smith had an impressive weekend as well, recording double-doubles in both matchups (11 kills, 10 digs vs. UM / 13 kills, 11 digs vs. UAH) for a total of 24 kills and 21 digs. The duo of setters in senior Audrey Bennett and redshirt-freshman Avery Mullins combined for 79 assists with Bennett leading the way with 41 while Mullins tallied a close 38. Defensively, senior libero Kaia Baker put together a pair of excellent performances, tallying 44 total digs for 7.33 digs per set while junior Ava Young led the Blazers in blocks with four total rejections.
 
For the season, the collective trio of seniors Jojo Smith, Christina Pettigrew and Mackenzie Murray lead the Blazer offensive attack with Smith in front of the pack at 276 kills on the year. Smith also has eight double-doubles this season alone. Meanwhile, Murray trails just behind Smith with 259 kills while Pettigrew has tallied 256 kills this season. Pettigrew leads the charge for the Blazer defense at the net with a team-high 64 blocks this season, including 29 solo blocks. The duo of setters in Bennett (621 assists) and Mullins (342 assists) have combined for 963 assists, keeping the VSU offense rolling. Kaia Baker has been an impressive defensive force for the Blazers, sitting at first in the GSC in digs with 481 while also ranking first in digs per set at 5.12 a frame. The Blazers as a whole are also first in the conference in digs with 1584 on the year for a conference best 16.67 digs per set.
 
West Alabama enters the weekend with a 2-24 overall record with an 0-16 mark in league play. The Tigers are led by head coach Mike Schmidt who is 13-74 in his third season at West Alabama. In program matchup history, Valdosta State leads UWA 17-8 since 2009 with the Blazers claiming the previous five matches since 2019 including a three-set win at The Complex this season back on October 12.
UWA is led offensively by Jaida Alvin, who leads the team with 182 kills on the year. Meanwhile, setter Taylor Lamontagne runs the Tiger offense with 432 assists while also tallying a team-high 26 service aces. Defensively, Gracie Pierscinski defends the net with 48 total blocks including eight solo rejections while libero Maggie Roddam leads the squad with 254 digs.
 
Mississippi College comes into the weekend matchup with a 12-12 overall record and a near-perfect 10-6 after falling to GSC opponents Lee and Trevecca Nazarene last weekend. MC will also take on West Florida on Friday before taking on the Blazers. The Choctaws are under the direction of first year head coach Bentley Odum who has put together an excellent start to her inaugural season. In program matchup history, Valdosta State holds a 14-1 record over the Choctaws since 2014 with the Blazers most recently claiming a 3-1 victory this season in Valdosta on October 11th.
 
The Choctaws are led by the dominant presence of Lydia Paulette, who ranks first in the conference in total kills (354), total attacks (983), kills per set (4.21), and points per set (4.85) Offensively, Paulette has been the player to watch while setter Ali Wiggins runs the MC offense with 426 assists on the year. Meanwhile on the defensive side of the court, Rhaia Davey and Julia Sumrall combined for 102 total blocks and 29 solo rejections while libero Samarin Kipple has racked up a team-high 323 digs.
 
Following this weekend, the Blazer volleyball team is set to return home for the final homestand of the season next weekend against Trevecca Nazarene and Lee. The Blazers will welcome Trevecca on Friday night before hosting Lee for senior day on Saturday afternoon. For more information on those matchups, be sure to stay tuned to vstateblazers.com.