VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State volleyball team (12-15, 11-7 Gulf South Conference) celebrated Senior Day with a victory over the visiting Mississippi College Choctaws (10-17, 7-10 GSC) in a three-set sweep (25-16, 25-18, 25-20). The Blazers celebrated six seniors; #1 Macy Brown, #3 Ashton Middleton, #5 Ava Young, #6 Kennedy Hairston, #18 Sabrina Oncins, and #20 Katie Callenberger.   

Graduate Macy Brown and senior Sabrina Oncins opened the Senior Day showing with a pair of big kills. Oncins then teamed up with a third graduating Blazer in senior Katie Callenberger for a block. Callenberger immediately followed with a solo rejection to tie the set 4-4. The seniors continued to power the offense with kills from Oncins and Callenberger pushing the sides to a 7-7 tie.

It was all seniors early for the Blazers, the next points coming on an ace from Oncins and a third block from Callenberger. Brown followed with three consecutive kills, when another senior in Ava Young got involved with a kill of her own. Brown posted yet another kill and after several Choctaw errors, the Blazers ran ahead 19-13.

Callenberger put away her fourth block of the opening set to push the advantage to 20-14. Another kill from Oncins made it 22-15. Sophomore Avery Mullins sent her own kill down and Young added another. Junior Hailey Holder dropped in an ace to win the set 25-16 for the Blazers.

Mississippi College exploded to a 4-1 lead in the second set, with the lone Blazer point coming on a kill from Mullins. Brown, junior Asia Montagnani, and Callenberger sent down three straight Blazer kills to even the set 4-4. The sides tied at every point from 4-4 to 10-10, the Blazer effort powered by kills from Brown (2), Callenberger, and freshman Madison Kilmer.

A Choctaw error broke the tie. Kilmer added to the advantage with a kill, 12-10 VSU. Oncins put away another Blazer kill and freshman Ava Keuntjes added an ace. Callenberger and Brown broke another tie at 16-16 with back-to-back kills, 18-16 Blazers. Brown put away three crucial kills down the stretch, junior Eimy Negron Domenech added another,  Kilmer and Young teamed up for a block, and finally Young sent down another kill to end the set with a 25-18 win and push VSU ahead 2-0 in the match.

Young, Oncins, and Callenberger kept the Blazer seniors well represented with early kills in the third set. Mullins added another and after several MC errors, VSU pulled in front 8-6. Young sent down back-to-back kills then teamed up with Mullins for a block to bring the Complex to their feet with an 11-6 advantage. MC fought back with the next three points, but Mullins opened another Blazer run with a kill. She followed herself with a pair of service aces, and Brown put down yet another kill to add to the lead, 16-9.

Kilmer put down a kill and Brown followed with an ace. Oncins sent down another kill and Mullins followed with an emphatic solo rejection, 21-13 Blazers. Kills from Oncins (2) and Brown pushed the Blazers within match point, but MC stormed back with the next several points to make it 24-20. Finally, a senior (Young) fittingly ended the match with a kill for the 25-20 victory and 3-0 sweep in the match.

A trio of graduating Blazers led the team in kills on Senior Day. Graduate Macy Brown paced the group with 14 at a .324 clip. Senior Sabrina Oncins followed with eight at .241 line. Senior Ava Young rounded out the kills podium with seven finishes and a team-high .417 clip. Another senior, Katie Callenberger, led the team in blocks with four. Callenberger also posted four kills.

Sophomore Avery Mullins led the team with 29 assists. Mullins has led the team in assists in every match to this point in the season. She also paced the Blazers with three service aces. Junior Eimy Negron Domenech, the reigning GSC Defensive Player of the Week, added to what has been her most efficient weekend of the season, notching 27 digs in three sets for a pace of nine per set.

Looking Forward

The Valdosta State volleyball team closes out its regular season with two matches in Tennessee next weekend. First, the Blazers battle Trevecca Nazarene (20-7, 14-4 GSC) in Nashville on Friday, Nov. 14th at 7 p.m. ET. They will then travel to Cleveland to take on Lee University (15-12, 11-7 GSC) at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Check the volleyball schedule page on vstateblazers.com for links to live stats and streaming. 

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