PENSACOLA, Fla. – The never-say-die Lee University volleyball team advanced to the semifinal round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament with an amazing comeback against Valdosta State University on Friday afternoon inside the UWF Field House. Lee improves to 19-15 overall while Valdosta State finishes at 19-12. The 5th-seeded Lady Flames will face top-seeded West Florida on Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST).

Coach Christa Fabre's team was up against a Blazer team that it had come back to defeat in five sets on Oct. 19. The two squads battled it out again this past week and Lee won in four sets, setting up what was certain to be another thriller in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.

Valdosta State wasted no time in winning the first set 25-21 and blasting the Lady Flames 25-14 in set two. Most teams would have been ready to hang it up and start looking towards next season but not Coach Fabre's club.
Lee rebounded with a 25-21 win in the third set and then forced a short fifth set by winning the fourth set 25-18 in convincing style. By this time there were a lot of smiles on the faces of the Lady Flames as the comeback was in high gear.

Lee never trailed in the final set and forced a pair of Blazer timeouts. The Lady Flames went up 12-10 on a kill by Payton Danley and Julia Davis also delivered a kill to put Lee up 14-11 as the Lady Flames went on to claim the short set 15-11.

Lee had four players reach double-digit kills. Danley finished with 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .343 and was also the block leader with five. Sara Palumbo did her part with 14 kills and finished with a double-double when she added 12 digs. Grace Mazzocca enjoyed a solid performance at the net with 10 kills and a .364 hitting percentage. She added three blocks to her total. Davis tallied 10 kills. Naomi Hockless came up with four blocks as the
Lady Flames finished the evening with 15 total blocks.

Both teams kept shot after shot alive. The Blazers had 67 digs and Lee 64. Izzy Denton was Lee's dig leader with 16, but Berra Soyler turned in an outstanding effort with 12 digs and 43 assists for her double-double.
All totals were close across the board. Valdosta had 52 sets to 51 for the Lady Flames. They had 58 attacks to 55 for Lee. Christina Pettigrew gave the Lady Flames plenty of problems in the first three sets and finished with 17 kills and an attack percentage of .469. Mackenzie Murray added 14 kills. Percentage wise the Lady Flames had a .225 and the Blazers a .201.
 
Coach Christa Fabre's Thoughts:

"This team doesn't it easy on fans or coaches but they are so resilient. Its just a really cool story for this team with all they have been through. But for the team to choose resilient and then to carry it on through every obstacle. Then to find ways to come out on top when the odds are not in our favor. Being down 2-0 is not an easy comeback. But to make the river sweep is quite the accomplishment."