PENSACOLA, Fla. —
Valdosta State and North Alabama played to a split during the regular season, but the Lions prevailed in the rubber match in the first round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla., Friday. North Alabama swept VSU, 25-15, 25-16, 25-22.
In her final match as a Blazer, senior Katie Onushko stood out with 11 kills to lead all Blazers. She almost double-doubled with nine digs. She had VSU’s only ace of the match.
Kelsey Kovar added seven kills while senior Tania Tauiliili added six in her final match. She was also in on every one of Valdosta State’s six blocks to help the Blazers outblock UNA, 6-3.
Sophomore Ashley Lala gave out 28 assists while digging up 15 balls. Chelsea Luttfring ended her career with a match high 16 digs.
Valdosta State’s best showing came in the third set in which the Blazers hit for 14 kills with just five errors on 33 attacks for a .273 hitting percentage. The Lions, who outperformed the Blazers throughout the match, out hit VSU in the final set with 18 kills and four errors on 43 attacks for a .326 percentage.
North Alabama finished hitting .320 overall while VSU finished at .161.
For the Lions, Priscilla Massengale led the way with 15 kills while Taylor Chapman added nine. Three others tallied seven kills in the match. Hope Rayburn gave 41 assists and Alex Panks had 14 digs.
Valdosta State ends its season at 17-14 overall.
Local Sports
Blazers’ season ends at hands of UNA
- 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
-
