VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State volleyball team (6-2) is set to open up Gulf South Conference play on Tuesday evening when it heads to Pensacola, Fla. to take on the Argonauts of West Florida at 7 p.m. ET. Live stats and FloSports video streaming links for this match can be found on the vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page.
 
The Blazers are looking to rebound following a tough weekend stand at The Complex which saw VSU drop two matchups to Sunshine State Conference opponents: No. 1 Tampa and Florida Southern. Valdosta State took the fight to the number one team in the nation on Friday night, taking set one before dropping the final three hard-fought sets, 3-1. VSU then fell in the Saturday night contest, dropping three sets to Florida Southern, 3-0.
 
For the weekend, senior Jojo Smith led the way for the Blazers offensively, recording 23 kills while hitting on a .129 clip. She also put up her third double-double of the season against the Spartans on Friday night, tallying 13 kills and 12 digs. Meanwhile senior Mackenzie Murray hit a team-best .222 with 18 kills and six miscues in 54 attempts while senior Christina Pettigrew racked up 14 kills and a team-best five aces. Junior Katie Callenberger was a problem for opposing teams at the net, tacking on seven total blocks including five solo rejections while senior libero Kaia Baker kept points alive with 33 digs. Senior setter Audrey Bennett continued to keep the Blazer offense moving with 62 assists over the two match stretch.
 
This season, Smith currently leads the Blazers on the offensive front, sitting at 104 kills on the year for 3.06 kills a set. Currently, she ranks second in the Gulf South Conference in total attacks with 342 attacks while sitting at sixth in kills. Bennett currently sits at second in the conference in assists with 322 assists on the year while she recently passed 2000 career assists (2009) on Saturday. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in aces with 13. Baker ranks second in the conference in digs with 166 total for a league-best 5.03 digs per set. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in blocks with 25 on the season so far with 13 solo rejections on the year.
 
West Florida returns home following a similar 0-2 weekend after dropping matches to Florida Southern and No. 1 Tampa in Valdosta last weekend. The Argonauts currently sit at 5-5 on the year heading into league play. West Florida is coming off of winning three-straight GSC title wins in 2021-2023 while they lead the conference with 12 total conference titles. The Argos are led by head coach Melissa Wolter who is 558-217 in 25 seasons at the helm of the program. West Florida leads Valdosta State in the series since 2001, 35-6 while they are 10-0 against the Blazers since 2016.
 
The Argonauts offensive attack is led by the duo of Jenna Zydio (103 kills) and Damyah Joyner (86 kills) who combine for 189 of UWF's 536 kills this season. Meanwhile Joyner is hitting a conference-best .396 while Zydio is hitting for .341. The offense is ran by setter Gabi Moulton whose 416 assists lead the GSC for a conference best 10.40 per set. Defensively, Delaney Hanowell leads the team in blocks with 27 total while Zydio has a respectable 25 total blocks of her own.
 
Following the showdown in Pensacola, the Blazers will return home to host two conference opponents in Christian Brothers and Union at The Complex this weekend. VSU kicks off the weekend against Christian Brothers on Friday night at 6 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Union on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. For more information on those matchups as well as all things Valdosta State volleyball, visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.