VALDOSTA —
The volleyball teams from Valdosta State and Shorter put on a show Thursday evening in a five-set match, but the Blazers fell in their first Gulf South Conference match of the season, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-12). Valdosta State drops to 6-3, while Shorter stays undefeated at 6-0.
Senior Katie Onushko led the Blazers in kills with 15, but freshman Kelsey Kovar was the most impressive player on the floor for VSU. She finished with 14 kills and a team high .324 attacking percentage. She also added seven digs.
Freshman Nikki McDaniel added 12 kills while Tania Tauiliili tallied 10. Hope Ripsam gave out 35 assists for the night while Ashley Lala gave 22. McDaniel made it a double-double with 13 digs, and Chelsea Luttfring led the team with 21 digs. Krista Bradford also reached double digits with 10 digs.
The Blazers had eight blocks for the match, led by Destiny Berry with three assists and two solos, but the Hawks outmatched VSU at the net with 10 blocks.
Jasmine Crook proved problematic for Valdosta State throughout the night, leading Shorter in kills with 22. Leslie Welch added 12 while Anna Graham and Jennifer Campbell contributed 10 each. Welch hit her 12 kills with just two errors for a .476 attacking percentage.
Setter Jordan Corder gave out 49 assists in the five-setter and added a team high 16 digs. Both Graham and Crook added four block assists while Lauren Olive and libero Tanequa Whitman each had 13 digs.
Valdosta State’s best offensive set was the second, a 25-20 win, in which the Blazers struck 13 kills and just three errors for a .333 attacking percentage. The red and black hit the most kills of the match in the third set, finishing with 19 in another 25-20 win.
With a 2-1 lead in the match, however, the Blazers dropped the fourth set to Shorter. The Hawks ran away to a 25-17 win, hitting .325 in the process.
The fifth set did not start well for VSU, but the Blazers rallied back. Down, 6-2, Valdosta State went on a run, mostly behind McDaniel’s service, to go ahead 9-7. Shorter would not lay down though and regained the lead, 11-10. Valdosta State wouldn’t lead in the match again as the Hawks soared past the Blazers.
Valdosta State will look to bounce back against GSC opponents Alabama-Huntsville and West Georgia this weekend, facing UAH at 7 p.m. Friday and UWG at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Local Sports
Hawks shoot down Blazers, 3-2
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Win or go home
The Valdosta State softball team faces Armstrong Atlantic University in an elimination game for the 2013 Division II Softball Championship Tournament today at noon.
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HOOPER: An early look at the 2013 football season
I haven’t written a column in quite some time, largely because there has been so much going on and we haven’t always had the space, nor have I felt up to it after writing so many other stories.
But today, I am writing this column and taking up the inches in the daily sports section and giving a little love to the upcoming football season. -
Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
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Golfers take course for Wounded Warriors
Local patrons participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Golf Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Valdosta on Thursday.
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Valwood football hosting 4-man scramble golf tourney
Head coach Ashley Henderson and the Valwood football team will be hosting a 4-man scramble golf tournament at Valdosta Country Club Friday, June 14.
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VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp
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Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices
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Signing day at VHS
It was signing day galore at Valdosta High School Wednesday.
Six student-athletes signed national letter of intents to compete at the next level, while two VHS athletes both signed academic scholarships to Division I universities. -
Powell signs with Shorter
Robert Powell, a member of the basketball team on South Georgia State College’s Waycross Campus, has signed a letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Shorter University in Rome.
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