VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State volleyball team looks to open the 2024 season with a bang as it hosts The Fall Tournament at Valdosta State University. The tournament consists of 10 games over the course of Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7. Each day will feature five exciting matchups with games starting at 9 a.m.
 
Valdosta State will welcome four other teams to The Complex as part of the Fall Tournament including Rollins, Converse, Erskine and Winston-Salem State. See the full schedule below for matchup times.
 
Friday, September 6^th

 
Saturday, September 7^th

 
HOME TEAMS
 
VSU kicks off the season facing a familiar foe in Converse at 9 a.m. Friday morning before taking on Winston-Salem State that afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The Blazers will then turn their attention to regional opponent Rollins at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday before closing out the tournament against Erskine at 7:00 p.m.
 
There will be live stats of each match and streaming of the matches; links for those can be found at vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page.  The matches will have a full livestream setup, featured on FloVolleyball (FloSports).
 
In 2024, the Blazers return a strong core from last season's 19-14 team that finished 10-6 in Gulf South Conference play. VSU head coach Kaleigh Zoucha begins her seventh season at the helm of the program as she is 75-99 at Valdosta State. Over her tenure as the head of the Blazers, she has seen five teams reach the Gulf South Conference Postseason tournament including 2021's GSC Spring Championship series.
 
This season, the Blazers were picked number three in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll just behind West Florida and Alabama Huntsville. Mississippi College and Montevallo round out the top five. The Blazers preseason ranking could be attributed to returning a conference-high seven seniors including senior Christina Pettigrew, who was named to the All-GSC Preseason team following a stout 2023 season.
 
In 2023, Pettigrew earned first team All-GSC honors, playing in 123 total sets and all 33 matches. She tallied 286 kills for a team-best 381 points with 26 aces. Defensively, the Copperas Cove, Texas native racked up a team-best 114 blocks including 24 solo rejections along with 76 digs for the year.
 
Along with Pettigrew are seven headlining seniors, including the top attackers in seniors Mackenzie Murray and Jojo Smith as well as All-GSC second team setter Audrey Bennett. The trio of Murray, Smith and Pettigrew combined for 937 kills and 47 aces in 2023, while Bennett recorded 963 of the team's 1349 total assists. In addition, senior Kaia Baker racked up a team-high 450 digs last year after sliding over to libero later in the season. Other senior returners include Ah'Miah Harris and Kennedy Hairston who look to make an immediate impact in the 2024 season.
 
The Blazers also welcomed a few new faces into the program including redshirt freshman setter Avery Mullins, who was named to the 2024 GSC Newcomer Watchlist after transferring from West Virginia State. Along with Mullins, the Blazers added freshmen Mia Verger and Ava Keutjes as well as junior Sabrina Oncins to make a roster of 15 total Blazers.
 
Converse enters the tournament after going 10-20 overall in 2023 with an 8-8 record in the Conference Carolinas. Just last season, the Blazers defeated the Valkyries 3-0 in the Lenoir-Rhyne Tournament while holding a 3-0 record over Converse since 2018. The Valkyries are under direction of Head Coach Alexis Ivey, who is heading into her third season at the helm. In just her second season, she led the Valkyries to their first 10-win season since 2019 while also earning them a berth in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
 
Winston-Salem State comes into the Complex after going 14-19 overall in 2023 with a 10-8 record in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Rams are led by interim head coach Christa Brown, who was elevated from a volunteer assistant coaching position in 2023. The Rams were picked sixth in the 2024 Preseason CIAA while setter Brooke Norwood was named to the All-CIAA Preseason team following a stout 2023 campaign. The match against the Rams marks the first time the Blazers have taken on WSSU in recent history.
 
Rollins looks to kickstart their 2024 campaign this weekend following a 2023 season that saw the Tars go 15-16 overall with a 7-13 record in a stacked Sunshine State Conference. The Blazers took on the Tars just last season in the GSC/SSC Crossover in which VSU fell 3-1 to give Rollins a 3-0 stint in the crossover. Rollins holds the edge over VSU since 2000, 13-4, winning the last two matches in 2022 and 2023. Rollins was picked eighth in the 2024 SSC Preseason poll behind head coach Mika Robinson who is entering her ninth season at the helm of the program.
 
Erskine enters The Complex after going 7-23 overall with a 4-13 record in the Conference Carolinas. The Fleet are led by head coach Kelly Burdeau who is entering her fifth season at Erskine. Last season, the Fleet were led by a young core of Becca Yohe and Ali Angell who each recorded over 200 kills last season as well as Ailena Mykins, who racked up a team-high 721 assists. The match against the Blazers marks the first time the two teams have locked-up in recent history.
 
Following the Fall Tournament in The Complex, the Blazers will hit the road to compete in another tournament as part of the Saint Leo Tournament in Saint Leo, Fla. next weekend. VSU will compete against the likes of St. Edwards, UVA Wise, Saint Michael's and hosting school, Saint Leo. For more information on the upcoming schedule and all things Blazer volleyball, visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.