TAMPA, Fla. —
Valdosta State split on the second day of the Gulf South Conference and Sunshine State Conference Crossover Tournament. The Blazers beat Saint Leo, 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16), while falling to Rollins in a slugfest, 3-2 (25-27, 26-28, 25-11, 25-18, 15-6).
Valdosta State started the day with a close match against the Tars, winning the first two sets in extra points, 27-25 and 28-26. Rollins rebounded impressively in the third set, 25-11, and the fourth set, 25-18. The Tars ran away with the fifth set, 15-6, as the Blazers put up a negative attacking percentage.
Individual Blazers did have good matches though. Freshman Nikki McDaniel led VSU against Rollins with 18 kills while Katie Onushko and Tania Tauiliili each added 16. Ashley Lala gave out 49 assists in the match while Chelsea Luttfring had 20 digs.
McDaniel was just behind her with 13 while Krista Bradford and Onushko combined for 21 digs.
Valdosta State turned around and put together a better performance against Saint Leo. Onushko exploded for 20 kills with a .342 attacking percentage. Tauiliili did the same with 15 kills and an even more impressive .542 attacking percentage.
Lala gave out 48 more assists in the match while Luttfring dug up 15 balls. McDaniel added nine.
After losing the first set, VSU bounced back to win three straight and improve to 13-10 on the season.
For the day, Onushko finished with 36 kills while Tauiliili had 31. McDaniel and Berry combined for 40 kills on the day. Lala gave 97 assists. Luttfring finished the day with 35 digs while McDaniel finished with 22.
Valdosta State will end the weekend with a match against Eckerd at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Local Sports
VSU volleyball splits at crossover
- Local Sports
-
-
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.
-
Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
-
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.
-
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.
-
VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp
The Valdosta High School football cheerleaders will be hosting a Junior Cheer Camp June 5 through June 7 at the W.G. Nunn Elementary School gymnasium.
-
Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices
Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson both think their football teams got better during the recent 10 days of spring practice.
Then again, both coaches know their teams have a ways to go before the start of the football season. -
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.
-
Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
-
All-Region teams announced
Lowndes was one win away from a trip to the Class AAAAAA state semifinals, and the success by the Vikings this season showed when the All-Region 1 baseball teams were announced Monday.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
