MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Valdosta State Lady Blazers took one step closer toward the Gulf South Conference championship match after scoring a dominant 5-1 victory over the rival Lady Statesmen of Delta State at O'Connor Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon in Montgomery, Ala.

The Lady Blazers started off with a miscue at No. 1 doubles when Bea Morales Hernandez and Anke Poncelet fell 9-7 to Delta State's Nathalia Sato and Alex Howe tandem. That was all VSU would allow for the Lady Statesmen, however, as Laura Ubeda teamed up with Sabrina Schmidt to defeat Charlotte Le Flohic and Ione' Deroode 8-1 at No. 2, and VSU's Josephine Jedrychowski and Daniella Barta overtook Sara Alvarez-Rubio and Celina Stracke to give the Lady Blazers a 2-1 advantage at the break.

In singles action, Schmidt held momentum at No. 3 for the red and black with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Howe, and Jedrychowski finished off Stracke at No. 4, 6-1, 6-2. The deciding point in the match belonged to Joanna Lario at No. 6 in a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Hristina Koceva.

The Lady Blazers improved to 12-7 overall with the victory, while the Lady Statesmen were eliminated with a 7-10 overall record.

As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Valdosta State will now face third-seeded West Alabama, who defeated No. 6 Shorter 5-3 on Thursday. The matchup between the Lady Blazers and the Tigers is slated for a 2:30 p.m. start in Montgomery, Ala.