JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven University Volleyball team won their first two matches on the season on Friday at Tougaloo over Tougaloo and NCAA Division I Mississippi Valley State University.

The Blazers defeated Tougaloo College and Mississippi Valley State University in five sets in the Tougaloo Tri-Match. With the two victories, the Blazers improve to 2-8 overall and 0-0 in conference play.

Belhaven came out strong in the opening set against Tougaloo going on a 24-7 run. The Bulldogs rallied to score five straight points, but the Green and Gold went on to take the set 25-12.

The second set was closer than the first set, but the Blazers prevailed to take the 25-19 set victory to move to 2-0 in the match. The Bulldogs stormed back and took the third set 25-23 and the fourth set 25-19 to force a match deciding fifth set. After a back and forth set, Tougaloo jumped out to a 10-8 lead early on in the fifth set. The Blazers rallied and collected seven straight points to take the 15-10 victory and the match 3-2.

Rylee White led the offense for the Blazers as she posted 15 kills, while Ellie Jones and Jeslian Vazquez posted eight digs apiece.Defensively, Caitlin Torok and Rylee White registered three blocks apiece in the contest. Additionally, Miriam Ateca had a team-high 39 assists and six service aces, while Paige Broussard added 23 digs in the five set victory over Tougaloo.

In the second match, the Blazers competed against Mississippi Valley State University and after a back and forth affair, Belhaven took the first set 25-20. The Blazers had the 20-19 advantage going into final points of the set, but MVU earned six of the next seven points to take the set 25-20 and even the match at 1-1.

The Blazers won in dominating fashion in the third set by a final set score of 25-10, but Valley did not go down without a fight earning the 25-17 fourth set victory over the Blazers to level the match at 2-2. In the match deciding set, Belhaven did not trail at all in the set and earned the 15-9 set victory over MVSU and the match 3-2.

Ellie Jones led the Blazers offensively in the second match posting 18 kills, while Rylee White collected 14 kills. Jeslian Vazaquez earned six service aces in the contest and Miriam Ateca had 42 assists in the 3-2 win over MVSU. Defensively, Ellie Jones led the way for the Green and Gold with four blocks, while Emma Gardner had a team-high 14 digs in the match.

The Blazers will return to action on Thursday, September 22 against LaGrange College in LaGrange, Ga to open up conference play. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. CST.

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