Box Score
Despite playing what coach Andrea Hudson described as much improved volleyball by her Lady Flames, visiting Valdosta State University walked away with a hard-fought 3-1 (23-25, 30-28, 25-21, 27-25) Gulf South Conference victory over Lee on Friday afternoon in Walker Arena.

The Lady Flames found a way to win the first set, then dropped a back-and-forth overtime game to the Blazers in the second set. Lee continued to fight in the third stanza but faded down the stretch before forcing a couple of extra points and losing the match in the fourth set.

"We showed a lot of improvement from our Tuesday night loss at Trevecca," stated Hudson. "Crucial mistakes late in the last three sets really hurt us. We just have to keep working on getting better and eliminating the errors but I'm really proud of the overall effort today."

Patty Orozco, Blaire Beamer and Erin Hill turned in solid efforts at the net. Orozco and Beamer had 12 kills apiece, while Hill followed closely with 11. Marija Martinovic and Latrice Johnson added six kills each to the attack, while Beamer had a .360 hitting percentage.

Hill produced her first double-double of the season by dishing off 26 assists, while Haley Foote tallied 17 assists.

Stephanie Hernandez came up with 19 digs in the loss. Johnson totaled 13 and Martinovic added 11 digs. Orozco and Martinovic had three blocks apiece. Beamer and Johnson carded two each.

Valdosta countered with 19 key kills by Jenna Kirkwood. Lea Jaklen knocked down 12. Jessica Codato was outstanding with 35 assists. She also produced a double-double with 10 digs as did Jaklen with 12 digs. Ashley Lala was the Blazer leader in digs with 22.

Valdosta was strong at the net. Emily Matio had four blocks. Jaklen's overall game was highlighted with three blocks and Nicole Higgins came up with three. The evenly played match saw Valdosta total 12 blocks while Lee had 14. In the kill department, the Blazers knocked down 58 and the Lady Flames had 51.

Lee faces an even bigger challenge on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. when unbeaten and 19th ranked West Florida visits Walker Arena for another Gulf South Conference affair.