Lady Blazers Sweep Up at Tournament

Two Lady Blazers named all tournament, team finishes second

AIKEN, S.C. - The Lady Blazers completed two sweeps on Saturday to finish 3-1 at the USC-Aiken Tournament. With impressive victories over Newberry and St. Andrews, VSU moved to 8-6 on the season.

Valdosta State finished second place at the tournament after tiebreakers placed USC-Aiken ahead of VSU even though both teams went 3-1. Irene Hannan and Laura Boos were named to the all-tournament team for the Lady Blazers. Despite the accolades, Head Coach Sia Poyer was more proud of the way his team played throughout Saturday.

The story of Saturday's first match was Valdosta State's blocking. The Lady Blazers outblocked Newberry 11 to three with three solos from Kathrine Carter on their way to a sweep. Hannan led the team with 18 kills and 12 digs. She compiled a .350 attacking percentage. Ruthie King went for eight kills and no errors to hit .400 against Newberry, and she also dug up the ball 11 times. Lea Weber gave out 34 assists.

In the first set against Newberry, the Lady Blazers used a combination of blocks and ferocious kills to jump out to a 10-6 lead. Valdosta State continued to keep the four-point lead to 19-15 before forcing a timeout from Newberry. Out of the timeout, two kills from Hannan and a Newberry error pushed the score to 22-15. The Lady Blazers used a block from Weber and Carter to end the first set, 25-19.

The second set was neck and neck until VSU, under Hannan's serve, went on a run to make it 10-5. With the Lady Blazers leading 13-6, Newberry began to show frustration. The team used that to go on a run of its own to close VSU's lead to 14-11. The Lady Blazers regained control to take the second set, 25-16, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Both teams went back and forth early in the third set, but, much like the second, the Lady Blazers went on a run, this time under King's serve, to gain an 11-6 lead before forcing a timeout from Newberry. The timeout would prove to be no help to Newberry as VSU extended the lead to 16-7. The Lady Blazers ran away with the rest of the set, 25-15, to sweep Newberry.

Priscila Sales and Kara Harris each killed the ball 10 times for Newberry while Nadia Andrade led the team with 10 digs. Brianna Blakely passed for 27 assists.

In the next match against St. Andrews, the Lady Blazers came out hot. They raced to a 10-1 lead to start the first set, but St. Andrews battled back. It would not be enough, however, as VSU won the first set, 25-21. With much of the same action, the Lady Blazers took the second set by the same score.

Two consecutive blocks and a kill by King gave the Lady Blazers a 5-1 lead to start the third set. VSU proved a penchant for riding the team's momentum as the Lady Blazers closed out strong for the second match in a row. Valdosta State took the third set with ease, 25-10, to complete the second sweep of the day.

Hannan continued to play well, finishing with 14 kills and a .429 attacking percentage against St. Andrews. Weber passed for 23 assists. Boos and King led the team in digs with 12 and 10 respectively while Carter capped the day off with a solo block to end the second match of the day. She added two block assists against St. Andrews.

Galina Podolsky finished with nine kills to lead St. Andrews, and Jaime Hayes passed for 19 assists. Hayes and Erica Davis led St. Andrews with seven digs each.

The Lady Blazers will face Albany State in Valdosta, Ga., at the PE Complex on Wednesday for their next match.

Newberry BOX SCORE

St. Andrews BOX SCORE

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