Saturday Valdosta State advanced past the first round of the Gulf South Conference Volleyball Tournament for the first time in the team’s history with a 3-1 win over fourth seed West Alabama (19-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15), but, unfortunately, fell in the semifinal match against top seed West Florida, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-15).

In the first match of the day, VSU played strong, getting 39 kills from the top three offensive players. Katie Onushko led the team with 15 kills while Chelsea Logan and Tania Tauiliili both added 12 each. Onushko and Tauiliili were efficient scorers, both only tallying three errors each.

Onushko finished hitting an outstanding .429 attacking percentage while Tauiliili was at .375.

The Blazers were on fire in their first GSC Tournament victory. After hitting a team attacking percentage of .140 in the first set, the Blazers improved to .286 in the second and .317 in the third set.

They finished the Tigers off in the fourth set with a .310 attacking percentage to help the team put together a team percentage of .257 for the match.

The first round win pitted Valdosta State against top seed West Florida in the semifinals, a team that swept VSU Saturday only allowing 14, 18 and 20 points in the match.

The Blazers did better against the powerhouse team Friday, falling 25-19, 25-19, 25-15.

West Florida will go on to face the winner between second seed North Alabama and No. 6 seed Alabama-Huntsville at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Blazers will end their season at 17-18 overall and 5-9 in conference play.