ROME, Ga. - The Valdosta State women's tennis team suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Shorter Lady Hawks in Gulf South Conference action on Friday in Rome, Ga.

The loss dropped VSU to 4-6 overall and evened up the Lady Blazers record at 2-2 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks bumped their overall record to 5-2 and improved to 2-1 in conference play.

Valdosta State's only victory of the day came in doubles action when Bea Morales Hernandez teamed up with Joanna Lario to pick up an 8-5 victory over Samya El Hsissen and Aurore Beltrando at No. 2.

Shorter controlled the rest of the match with an 8-3 win for Agnes Brun and Ornella Frere over Jennifer Rink and Anke Poncelet at No. 1 doubles and a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win for El Hsissen over Lario at No. 3 singles.

The final three wins for Shorter came by way of forfeit, as VSU was forced to take losses at No. 3 doubles and also at No. 5 and No. 6 singles due to an injury plagued roster.

The Lady Blazers have a chance to rebound on Saturday with another GSC matchup against Alabama-Huntsville in Huntsville, Ala.