CLEVELAND, Tenn. - It is on to Pensacola, Florida for the Lee University volleyball team. The Lady Flames earned the fourth seed and the right to advance to the quarterfinal round of the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship by defeating visiting Valdosta State University 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23) on Saturday evening inside Walker Arena. The victory improved the Lady Flames to 12-8 in GSC play and 16-13 overall. The Blazers slipped to 11-9, 12-17.

Lee's Jordyn Butler set a career-high with 15 kills while Izzy Denton recorded her 1000th dig in her two-year career for the Lady Flames. Denton finished Saturday's win with 20 digs. Payton Danley came on strong in the last two sets and finished with 12 kills and a .400 attack percentage. Sara Palumbo and Naomi Hockless added nine kills apiece. Palumbo also had 16 digs while Hockless had two solo blocks and four blocking assists.

Esthefany Rabit continued her solid play with eight kills and 10 blocking assists. Sydney Sharpe delivered 27 assists and came up with 13 digs while Berra Soyler had 17 assists. Mikayla Buhr joined in with 11 digs. All totaled, Lee had three solo blocks and 28 blocking assists as they dominated play at the net.

The Blazers were led by Sabrina Oncins who had 19 kills. Macy Brown delivered 13 kills while Avery Mullins dished off 36 assists. Eimy Negron Domenech, who is one of the best at keeping the ball alive, had 23 digs in the Blazer loss. All totaled, Lee had 58 kills to 49 for Valdosta State. The Lady Flames had 53 assists to 46 for the losers. They also had 76 digs and Valdosta State came up with 65.

Coach Christa Fabre's Thoughts:

"Such a team effort in the win. We mixed some things up in the third set. I love the way the team responded to that. The players on the floor were going to find a way no matter what to make it happen."