PENSACOLA, Fla. – On a wild night of Gulf South Conference volleyball action in a packed UWF Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, the Valdosta State Blazers put up a tough fight before falling 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21) to a hard-hitting No. 19 West Florida team.
 
The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for the Blazers to drop VSU's record to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in GSC play. With the victory, the Argonauts improved to 15-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference play.
 
Valdosta State jumped out to an early lead in the first set, using strong defense and timely kills to run away with the first set and end a streak of 10 straight set victories for the Argonauts that dated back to September 26^th. In the frame, Antia Rodriguez-Sanchez and Lea Jaklen teamed up for eight of the Blazers 12 kills, while Natalia Campos paced the Blazers on defense with eight digs. Jessica Codato and Ashley Miller teamed up to deny UWF's Corisha Smith with a key block late in the set, and Rodriguez-Sanchez capped the set win with a blistering kill.
 
The Argonauts battled back in a back-and-forth second set, taking control in the latter portion of the frame to claim the 25-20 win and knot the contest up at 1-1. Corisha Smith fueled the effort for UWF with seven kills, three digs, and one block, while Rachel Neblett added four kills and two blocks of her own. Valdosta State saw their offensive performance slip in the frame, and despite Peonia's .800 hitting effort, the Blazers hit just .140 as a team in the set.
 
Set three remained tight until the midway point, when West Florida used a 10-4 run to open up a 21-13 lead. The Blazers fought back with a 6-1 run to narrow UWF's lead to 22-19, but the Argonauts regained composure to score three straight and take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
 
The fourth set belonged to the Blazers in the early going, with Valdosta State opening up an 8-4 lead. UWF outscored VSU 13-4 from that moment, however, to reclaim a 17-12 advantage. VSU didn't go down without a fight, and climbed back to within three points at 19-22, but with the match hanging in the balance, the Argonauts used Smith again to make one final push and seal the victory with a 25-21 win.
 
Overall, Peonia eclipsed the .300 mark for the ninth time in her last ten games with 10 kills in 26 attempts for a .308 performance, but UWF's Smith proved to be the difference with 18 kills and just one error in 37 attempts for a .459 hitting effort.
 
The road trip continues for Valdosta State on Friday, as the Blazers travel to North Alabama for a 7:00 p.m. GSC matchup in Florence, Ala.