SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Valdosta State volleyball team put an emphatic exclamation point on a thrilling weekend with a 3-0 sweep of host Saint Leo on Saturday evening in the final game of the Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament.  VSU finished the tournament with a 4-0 record and improved to 6-2 on the year, while Saint Leo fell to 3-4.
 
The Blazers hit .225 for the match with 46 kills in 129 swings with 17 errors, while the defense held SLU to .066 with 33 kills in 121 swings and 25 errors.  The Blazers also had ten total blocks in the match.  Individually, junior Katie Callenberger paced the team with 12 kills and hit .455 in 22 swings with just two errors, while assisting on six blocks.  Senior Christina Pettigrew finished with ten kills in 19 swings with two errors as she hit .421 for the match and senior Mackenzie Murray finished with nine kills.  Senior Audrey Bennett finished with 34 assists and had four aces, while senior Kaia Baker had a team-high 23 digs.
 
First Set:
Continuing the offensive momentum from a 3-0 sweep of Saint Michael's earlier in the morning, where senior Jojo Smith eclipsed 1,000 career kills, the Blazers scored the first five points of the match against the Lions, helped out by three attack errors on SLU and two kills from Pettigrew.  VSU pushed the lead to 10-5, but the Lions would respond with a 5-0 run for a 15-13 lead.  From there the set went back-and-forth as neither team gained control until VSU won four-straight for a 24-21 lead.  SLU staved off three set points to tie the set at 24.  The teams would trade points until Callenberger came up with a kill for a 29-28 lead and Bennett ended the set with an ace, 30-28.
 
Second Set:
VSU scored three-straight points extending its lead to 12-7 in the second set on a kill from junior Ava Young, a miscue on the Lions and an ace from redshirt freshman Avery Mullins.  SLU pulled within 14-13, but three-straight from the Blazers pushed the lead to 17-13, beginning a 7-1 run for a 21-14 lead.  VSU then settled for a 25-19 win in the second set to lead 2-0.
 
Third Set:
In the third, SLU jumped out to a 10-7 lead, but VSU came back and tied the set on one of ten errors by the Lions in the frame at 13-13.  Later, VSU broke an 18-18 score with a kill from back-to-back kils from Smith for a 20-18 lead.  SLU would tie the set at 24, but kills from Callenberger and a block from Callenberger and Young ended the match, 26-24.
 
Up Next:
The Blazers return home to host top-ranked Tampa and Florida Southern next Friday and Saturday at The Complex.  The Tampa match is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, while the Florida Southern match is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21 also at 6 p.m.