VALDOSTA —
Valdosta State volleyball players Ashley Lala and Katie Onushko were named to the preseason All-Gulf South Conference team on Friday.
Lala, a sophomore setter from Kenner, La., and Onushko, a senior outside hitter from Alpharetta, were both All-Gulf South Conference selections in 2011. Lala was also named the 2011 GSC Freshman of the Year.
Christian Brothers had three players on the preseason All-GSC team, while VSU and West Florida had two players each. North Alabama and West Alabama both had one representative.
Valdosta State was picked to finish fourth in the conference this season. The Blazers received one third place vote, four fourth place votes and a fifth place vote. Last year, the Blazers went 17-18 and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament after upsetting West Alabama in the first round.
GSC coaches picked West Florida to win the conference. The Argonauts received all but two first-place votes. North Alabama was picked second and Christian Brothers was third.
Valdosta State freshmen outside hitters Kelsey Kovar and Nikki McDaniel were named to the list of the conference’s top newcomers. Kovar is from Stoney Creek, Ontario, while McDaniel comes from Deland, Fla.
Valdosta State will begin the 2012 volleyball season with its tournament, the Fairfield Inn and Suites Azalea Classic on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at The Complex. VSU, Albany State, Lander, Converse, Coastal Georgia and Florida Tech will be competing in the tournament. Valdosta State will face Converse and Florida Tech on Aug. 31 and Lander and Coastal Georgia on Sept. 1.
The next week, the Blazers will travel to Boca Raton, Fla. for the Lynn Invitational on Sept. 7-8. VSU will then return home to host Shorter, Alabama-Huntsville and West Georgia on consecutive days Sept. 13-15.
Then VSU will hit the road for its longest road trip of the season. The Blazers will play eight consecutive conference matches between Sept. 21 and Oct. 14. Then they will play in the GSC/Sunshine State Crossover Tournament in Tampa Oct. 18-20.
The Blazers will return home to play four matches in five days between Oct. 26-30, squaring off against North Alabama on the 26th, Christian Brothers on the 27th, Union on the 28th and Albany State on the 30th. Then they will finish the season with home matches against West Alabama on Nov. 2 and West Florida on Nov. 6. The Gulf South Conference Tournament will be played Nov. 15-17 in the home gym of the regular season champion.
Valdosta State’s Nate Anderson named All-America Scholar
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State golfer Nate Anderson was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America on Friday.
Anderson earned the honor after winning the Gulf South Conference individual title in April. He was the only Blazer to play in all 11 tournaments last season, and finished the season with a 75.7 strokes per round average. His score counted in 27 of the squad’s 33 rounds.
In order to receive the All-America Scholar distinction, a golfer must be a junior or senior academically, participate in 70 percent of his team’s competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 78.0 and a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Valdosta State volleyball players Ashley Lala and Katie Onushko were named to the preseason All-Gulf South Conference team on Friday.
Discussion
Onushko, Lala named preseason All-GSC
VSU volleyball team picked to finish fourth
- Local Sports
-
-
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
-
Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
-
Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
