VALDOSTA, GA. – The Valdosta State volleyball team is set to host the VSU Fall Tournament on Friday, Sept 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13 at The Complex. The Blazers will open their 2025 home slate with three games over the weekend, led off by a match against Shorter on Friday morning.
VSU's full schedule for the weekend is listed below:
- Valdosta State vs Shorter: Sept. 12th at 9 a.m. ET
- Valdosta State vs Palm Beach Atlantic: Sept. 12th at 4:30 p.m. ET
- Valdosta State vs Georgia College: Sept. 13th at 11:30 a.m. ET
The tournament page for the 2025 Valdosta State University Fall Tournament, including the full schedule, can be found here. Live stat links and streaming options are also set to be available throughout the tournament on vstateblazers.com and in the Blazer Athletics Mobile App.
The Blazers battled throughout the tournament last weekend despite going 0-4 against some very tough teams including nationally ranked No. 14 Grand Valley State and No. 22 Washburn. Blazer junior libero Eimy Negron Domenech recording 56 digs and 11 assists in her first matches with the team. Sophomore setter Avery Mullins notched a team-high 53 assists to go along with 23 digs over the weekend. Senior Katie Callenberger paced the defense with 15 total blocks; a total tied for second-most in the GSC. The offense showed plenty of flashes over opening weekend, but a .058 attacking percentage over the tournament leaves room for improvement as a unit. Senior Sabrina Oncins leads the team in kills with 20. She is followed by graduate Macy Brown and Callenberger, who are tied at 18 a piece.
VSU will look to bounce back against Shorter (1-0) on Friday at 9 a.m. The Hawks are coming off a three-set victory over Clark Atlanta in their season-opener on Wednesday and a 17-14 record under head coach Taylor Watson in 2024. Key returning players include several Conference Carolinas "players to watch" in senior Claudia Loyola, senior Taylor Reese-Howell, and junior Caroline Sivillis. A third key returner, junior Victoria Sparks, led the team with ten kills in the season opener against Clark Atlanta.
VSU hasn't played Shorter since 2023 and has won the last three in the series. The teams have split the last eight meetings and have gone 5-5 in the last ten. VSU has swept SU in each of the last three matches. Prior to that, SU won four straight – all sweeps also.
The Blazers will take on Palm Beach Atlantic (3-1) at 4:30 p.m. ET in their second and final match of opening day of the Valdosta State University Fall Tournament. The Sailfish will look to build off an 8-22 campaign in 2024 during Jeff Huebner's second year as head coach. Their 3-1 record at last weekend's Fairmont State Classic was a nice start, with sophomore Sydney Corbett and senior Harper Stokes earning all-tournament honors for their efforts. Junior setter Savanna FauntLeRoy's 128 assists are the third most in the Sunshine State Conference, while Stokes' 20 total blocks the conference.
PBA leads the all-time series 3-0 in three sweeps. The teams have not met since 2019 when the Sailfish won 3-0 in Hoover, Ala. This is the first time the teams have met at either campus site as PBA won 3-0 in Carrollton, Ga., in 2015 and won 3-0 in Aiken, S.C., in 2013.
In the final match of their slate at the VSU Fall Tournament, the Blazers will take on Georgia College Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. ET. The Bobcats (3-1) bring back 11 players from 2024 as they look to improve off their 8-21 mark from a year ago. Senior right side Camryn Carlton got off to a red-hot start last weekend, recording 52 kills and 11 total blocks on her way to earning Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week honors. Senior Alanis Bernis, who was the 2024 PBC Defensive Specialist of the Year, leads the league with 84 digs after opening weekend.
VSU leads the series with GC at 4-2 and has won three-straight. The teams have not played since 2023 with VSU winning 3-1 in Augusta, Ga. All of the six matches have been by the score of 3-1. GC won in the only meeting in Valdosta in 2017, while VSU won in Milledgeville in the only meeting there in 2021.
After wrapping up host duties at the Valdosta State University Fall Tournament, the Blazers will hit the road and shift their focus to Tampa, where they take on the Spartans next Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
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