VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State Volleyball team has an exciting weekend on its hands as it hosts No. 1 Tampa and Florida Southern in a weekend crossover event at The Complex. The Blazers open the two-match stretch against Tampa on Friday evening in a main event matchup set for 6 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Florida Southern on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
 
West Florida will also make the drive up to Titletown to participate in the crossover as they are set to take on Tampa and Florida Southern. Those matchups will take place before the Blazers take the court at 3:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
 
The Blazers are coming off a fiery weekend at the Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament in Saint Leo, Fla. Over the weekend, VSU went on a perfect 4-0 run in the tournament, defeating the likes of St. Edward's, UVA Wise, Saint Michael's and Saint Leo. Valdosta State opened the tournament on Friday morning against St. Edward's in which the Blazers were forced to climb back from a 2-1 deficit to close the match out in five sets, 3-2. VSU then defeated UVA Wise in three sets behind senior Christina Pettigrew's match-best 13 kills. On Saturday, the Blazers knocked off Saint Michael's in the afternoon matchup 3-0 as senior Jojo Smith recorded her second double-double of the season (13 Kills / 11 Digs). In the final match of the tournament, Valdosta State downed hosting-school Saint Leo 3-0 as the Blazers dominated at the net, recording a season-best 10 total blocks.
 
Individually, many of the Blazers had a breakout weekend at the tournament. For starters, Jojo Smith reached a career milestone, recording her 1000th kill as a Blazer against Saint Michael's on Saturday afternoon. Currently, Smith has 1,016 kills in her four-year career as she sits at eighth all-time in Valdosta State history. Senior setter Audrey Bennett also made her mark on the tournament this weekend, earning Tournament MVP following a stellar four-match performance. 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 service aces over 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.
 
Along with Bennett, junior Katie Callenberger and Pettigrew were also named to the All-Tournament team, putting together break-out performances over the four-game weekend. Callenberger hit for a team-best .313 for the weekend, delivering 32 kills in 80 attempts with just seven attack errors. She recorded a total of seven blocks in the tournament, tallying one solo rejection. She was crucial to the Blazers' success in the 3-0 tournament finale against Saint Leo, racking up a squad-high 12 kills on 22 swings while hitting a match-high .455 in the match. She also tallied six blocks in that match alone, bringing her season total to 16. Pettigrew led the team in blocks with 10 over the four-game stretch including two solo rejections. She also recorded 11 digs during the tournament. The Copperas Cove, Tex. native finished the weekend hitting for .302 on 42 kills in 106 swings with just 10 miscues while also tacking on four aces. She recorded a total of 52 points for the Blazers.
For the season, Smith currently leads the Blazers on the offensive front, sitting at 81 kills on the year for 3.00 kills a set. She currently leads the Gulf South Conference in total attacks with 261 attacks while sitting at fourth in kills. Bennett currently sits at second in the conference in assists with 260 assists on the year while she is 53 assists from reaching 2000 in her career (1947). Bennett also leads the Blazers in aces with 10. Senior libero Kaia Baker leads the conference in digs with 133 total for a league-best 5.12 digs per set. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in blocks with 21 on the season so far with 10 solo rejections on the year.
 
No. 1 Tampa comes to Valdosta with a perfect 6-0 record following a trip to San Antonio which saw the Spartans knock off Anderson (S.C.), St. Mary's (Texas), and East Central, winning nine out of 10 sets in the San Antonio Tournament. UTampa has earned the reputation of being one of the pillars of Division II volleyball, only dropping eight matches since 2021. The Spartans are led by one of the winningest coaches in NCAA volleyball history in Chris Catanach, who is 1207-218 in 41 years as the head of the program. Tampa is 9-0 against VSU since 2001, winning the last matchup in 2019, 3-0.
 
The Spartans pride themselves on making little to no mistakes as the team is hitting a collective .300 with 331 kills on 784 attempts with 96 errors. Individually, UTampa is led offensively by Kalli Cors, who ranks second in the Sunshine State Conference in kills with 78 for 4.11 kills a set. Meanwhile, setter Zoey Seput ranks fifth in conference in assists with 233 assists while sitting at first in assists per set at an 11.10 clip.
 
Florida Southern enters The Complex with a 4-2 record after going 2-1 at the Net Results invite in Hillsdale, Mich. Over those matches, the Mocs defeated Clarion and Purdue Northwest before dropping a 3-0 match to Hillsdale in the tournament finale. The Mocs are led by head coach Ashlee Crowder who is 25-12 in her second season as head coach of Florida Southern. FSC is 9-0 against Valdosta State since 2001, winning the last match 3-0 in 2021.
 
The Mocs pride themselves on excellent defense, currently sitting at 64 blocks as a team while holding teams to 15.91 points per set. Individually, the FSC defense is led by the trio of Madison Fowler (29.0), Morgan Word (28.0) and Kiersten Kraus (24.0) who each have over 20 blocks on the season. Meanwhile, the Mocs' offensive attack is led by Mackenzie Petermann who has 51 kills on the year along with five service aces.
 
Following the weekend matchups at The Complex, the Valdosta State volleyball team will look to open up Gulf South Conference play against West Florida in Pensacola on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. ET before returning home to host Christian Brothers and Union. For more information on those matchups as well as all things VSU volleyball, visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.