VALDOSTA, Ga.- Valdosta State football graduate student Blake Hester and Blazer volleyball senior Audrey Bennett were named this week's Steel's Jewelry Athletes of the Week. This marks the first weekly honors for both Hester and Bennett while it is the first time this season a member of the Blazer Volleyball team has received a Steel's Jewelry Athlete of the Week nod.
 
Hester had six carries for 102 yards and three rushing touchdowns in the Blazers' 34-0 shutout of Fayetteville State Saturday night.  Hester averaged 17.0 yards per carry and had a 73-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.  He helped VSU register 186 yards on the ground and a 5.5 average per carry for the team, while VSU tallied a season-high 502 yards off total offense in the game. Hester was also named Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his outstanding game on the ground.
 
Over the weekend, Bennett was named the Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament MVP, helping lead Valdosta State to a perfect 4-0 run against the likes of St. Edward's, UVA Wise, Saint Michael's and Saint Leo. Over the four-game stretch, she recorded a tournament-high 135 assists while also hitting .209 on 13 total kills and just four errors in 43 swings. She also notched six aces including a crucial set-winning ace in the 3-0 win over Saint Leo. Defensively, the Lenexa, Kan. native racked up seven blocks including two solo rejections while also stretching out points with 42 digs. Bennett's crowning performance came in the final game of the tournament against Saint Leo in which she tallied five kills, 34 assists, a season-best four aces, five digs and four total blocks.
 
Hester And the #3 Blazer football team will head to Erskine to open up GSC Conference play on Sat, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, Bennett and the VSU volleyball team will host No. 1 Tampa in a heavy-weight matchup at The Complex on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. before taking on Florida Southern in The Complex on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. For more information on Blazer football and volleyball as well as all things VSU athletics, visit vstateblazers.com.