Valdosta State’s volleyball team lost in five sets (20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 17-15) to West Georgia on Tuesday night. The loss drops VSU to 13-12 overall and 3-5 in conference play.

The Blazers came out strong in the first set with a 25-20 win. Valdosta State actually held an eight-point lead twice in the set, at 12-4 and 16-8. Unfortunately, VSU could not keep momentum and dropped the next two sets to fall into a 2-1 hole. After winning the fourth set, 25-21, the Blazers could not close out in the fifth set.

The teams went back and forth in the fifth set. The Blazers built a 13-11 lead, but then the Wolves scored three straight points to regain the lead, 14-13. The Blazers won the next two points to take the lead again, 15-14, but West Georgia responded with three straight points to close out the match. A kill from West Georgia’s Mandy Black and two VSU errors ended the match.

Tania Tauiliili led Valdosta State with 18 kills and a .324 attacking percentage. She notched three service aces and two block assists.

Valdosta State’s Katie Onushko and Chelsea Logan both tallied 10 kills. Onushko added 12 digs and four block assists. VSU’s top blocker was Destiny Berry, who finished with six block assists and two solos.

Valdosta State made 90 digs. Krista Bradford had 25 of the digs, while Chelsea Luttfring and Ashley Lala registered 16 and 15 digs, respectively. Macy Markham added 10 digs, to make it five Blazers with double-digit digs. Lala added 47 assists.

The Blazers outblocked West Georgia, 10-6, but the Wolves put together a strong offense, led by Emily Reul, who finished with 27 kills. Three other Wolves tallied nine kills each. Amanda Miller gave out 54 assists and Taylor Snipes had 24 digs.

Valdosta State will look to rebound with a big weekend home stand. On Friday, VSU will host Alabama-Huntsville at 7 p.m. for Parents’ Night and then West Alabama at 2 p.m. Saturday for Senior Day.