HOOVER, Ala.  -- Barry University's volleyball  team has a recent history with Valdosta State. Friday, history was on the Bucs' side. 

Barry defeated Valdosta State, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, in the opening match of the South Region Crossover at The Finley Center. Last year, the Bucs dropped the match to the Blazers in the Crossover pitting Sunshine State Conference and Gulf South Conference teams. Barry had swept VSU earlier last season. The Bucs also swept the Blazers in the 2013 Crossover.

Friday, the Buccaneers used a hot hitting start and rallied from behind at the end to claim victory.
 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Barry 3, Valdosta State 1
Records: Barry (7-4), Valdosta State (9-8)
All-Time Series: Barry leads, 6-2

SUMMARY:

• Brittany Reynolds gave Barry a 20-19 lead in the opening set when she connected with Genesis Castillo for a kill. Jaeda Allen's ace extended the lead to 22-20, and Castillo added a kill one serve later. The Blazers scored the next three points to tie it, but Kristina Filimonova and Johanna Voss put away kills on the final two serves to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.
• Barry hit .412 in the first set, and were 12 of 23 in sideout opportunities. Valdosta State hit .294, and was 12 of 25.
• The Buccaneers ran out to an 18-9 lead in Set 2 on Gabriela Jansen's kill. VSU cut it to 21-16 before Kishara Gordon's kill stopped the Blazers' run. Three Blazers errors over the final nine points put Barry ahead 2-0. 
• Valdosta State hit .346 in the third set to pull within 2-1 in the match. 
• The Buccaneers took a 14-12 lead in the final set, but the Blazers went ahead 19-17 on a kill by Chloe Chubilleau. After a setting error kept VSU in front by two, the Bucs used a kill from Gordon and a Blazers ballhandling error to tie it at 20-20. Stassy Samokhvalova and Kristina Filimonova's block and an ace by Alexis Boutin put Barry in front, 23-21. Valdosta State knotted the set at 24 on Katie McInnis' kill, but Reynolds slammed home a kill and served up an ace to seal the victory. 

NOTEWORTHY:

• The Buccaneers hit .269 with 56 kills, marking the sixth time Barry has hit over .250 this season. The Bucs have won all six of those matches. The 56 kills were the second most this season for Barry, and the most during a four-set match. The Bucs had 61 kills in a five-set win over Lynn on Tuesday.
• Allen had 14 kills, a season-high four aces, and hit .333. She did not have an error until the third set. Her four aces matched a career high.
• Filimonova had 13 kills, hit .308, and had four blocks.
• Gordon had 11 kills, hit .500, and had four blocks.
• Juliana Tirabassi had 25 assists, which is the seventh time she's had at least 20 this season. Maegan Cuesta had 17 assists, running her double-digit streak to five consecutive matches.
• The Bucs outblocked the Blazers, 8-3. It is the seventh time this season Barry has outblocked its opponent.

ON THE HORIZON:

Barry meets Shorter at 8 p.m. Friday at the South Region Crossover in Hoover, Ala.