VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State volleyball team is set to host Alabama Huntsville and Montevallo in the final two regular season matches of the 2023 season. The Blazers will first take on UAH tonight at 6 p.m. before closing out the weekend with an afternoon matchup against Montevallo on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Valdosta State (17-12, 9-5 GSC) is coming off of a successful 2-0 weekend, sweeping both Lee and Shorter on the road in six total sets. For the weekend, junior Jojo Smith led the Blazers in kills with 14 while graduate student Mallory Roney, junior Christina Pettigrew and sophomore Katie Callenberger each tacked on 12 kills apiece. Junior Audrey Bennett had 49 assists for the weekend, accounting for 49 of the Blazers’ 63 for the two-game stretch. Pettigrew led the team in blocks with eight total rejections while Smith tallied six. Junior Kaia Baker had 31 total digs starting at libero while freshman Lily Glover had four service aces for the weekend.

As a team, VSU ranks 10th nationally and first in the GSC in total attacks (3,986) while also ranking first in the conference in attacks per set (37.25). Continuing with the offensive trend, the Blazers rank third in the league in kills (1,289), while also ranking third in kills per set with the team averaging 12.05 kills a frame. Defensively, Valdosta State leads the conference in total blocks (221), digs (1,718) as well as digs per set (16.06).

Individually, Audrey Bennett ranks second in the GSC in both total assists (791) and assists per set (7.46). Bennett also moved into the VSU top 10 all-time in assists last week, coming in at number 10 with 1113 career assists. Mallory Roney is third in the GSC in service aces with 51 on the year, marking 25th best in the nation.

Christina Pettigrew sits at number three in the league in total blocks with 101 on the year while ranking third in blocks per set, averaging 0.94 rejections a frame. She currently sits at number 14 in Valdosta State all-time blocks (207) and number 11 in solo rejections (52) while being just one solo block shy of moving into the number 10 spot.

Pettigrew is also second in the GSC in hitting percentage, hitting an impressive .321 for the season. Finally, junior Mackenzie Murray ranks fifth in the league in total kills (291) while also ranking fifth in total attacks (836). Meanwhile, Jojo Smith ranks sixth in the GSC in kills (259) while ranking number 13 in VSU all-time kills with 861 career kills as a Blazer.

Alabama Huntsville enters The Complex with a 16-8 overall record, ranking second in the GSC with a 12-2 mark in the league. The Chargers hosted Montevallo last weekend in which they swept the Falcons in three straight sets after going the distance with Lee in a 3-2 victory on Halloween. Earlier this season,

UAH defeated VSU 3-1 in Huntsville as Caroline Moyer lead four total Chargers in double-digit kills to turn back the Blazers on the road. UAH ended up going a perfect 11-0 at home in the regular season while currently sitting at 4-2 on the road.

The UAH offensive attack is spearheaded by Autumn Mayes, Zoe Smith and Caroline Moyer, all of which have over 200 kills this season. This can be accredited to setter Savannah Rutledge who makes this offense go, leading the conference in assists with 840 on the year. Defensively, the Chargers are led by Mary Grace Bundrant, who leads the GSC in blocks with 106, and Tatiana Bonilla who has an impressive 322 digs this season.

Montevallo comes into the weekend stretch 11-6 with a 9-5 mark in the conference. The Falcons went 1-1 last week, defeating Shorter in three quick sets on Halloween before dropping to Alabama Huntsville on Friday, 3-0. Before taking on the Blazers, the Falcons are set to take on West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga. on Friday night. Montevallo defeated Valdosta State earlier this season in Alabama 3-1 as Alex Koontz and Macy Martin combined for 27 kills against the Blazers.

The Falcons are led by Allie Dishman in kills with 231 on the year while Macy Martin follows close behind with 217. Dishman also leads the team in blocks with 67 total rejections while Casey Hendrixson has a team-high 331 digs. Colton Thompson has 598 assists while Kalin Duncan has 321, combining for 919 total assists.

Following this weekend’s matchups, the Blazers are set to compete in the Gulf South Conference Tournament which is set to begin next week. With matchups yet to be determined, stay tuned to vstateblazers.com for updates once those matchups are announced.