VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State volleyball team started fast winning the first set 25-15, but was unable to pull the upset of top-ranked Tampa Friday evening at The Complex.  The Spartans won the final three sets, 25-16, 26-24 and 25-11 to win the match.
 
VSU fell to 6-3 on the year, while Tampa improved to 7-0 for the season.  The Blazers hit .189 for the match with 43 kills and 12 attack errors in 164 swings, while Tampa hit .253 with 63 kills and 18 attack errors in 178 swings.  Blazer senior Jojo Smith paced the team with 13 kills and 12 digs, while senior Mackenzie Murray added ten kills.  Senior Audrey Bennett finished with 34 assists and eight digs.  Senior Kaia Baker had a team-high 18 digs.  The Spartans were led by 16 kills from Nathaly Perez, while Kalli Cors added 14 kills and 13 digs and Meghan Schreck chipped in 12 kills and nine digs.  Zoey Seput had 54 assists.  
 
VALDOSTA STATE 25, #1 TAMPA 16 (SET ONE)
Tampa controlled the early action and built an 8-4 lead, but VSU stormed back with a 10-0 run for a 14-8 lead and took command of the set.  Senior Jojo Smith registered three kills during the spurt to spark the Blazers in front of a strong crowd.  Tampa ended the run pulling within 14-10, but the Blazers kept the pressure on as it pushed the lead to 17-11 courtesy of a service error by the Spartans, along with a bad set and kills by senior Christina Pettigrew and Smith.  Pettigrew would push the Blazer lead to 19-13 with her second kill of the set and an attack error by Tampa swelled the lead to 20-13 and the second timeout by the Spartans of the set.  Pettigrew then served up an ace out of the timeout for a 21-13 lead, while senior Mackenzie Murray pulled the Blazers within two points of the first set victory with her second kill of the set and a 23-15 lead.  Smith finished with two more kills for six for the set and a 25-16 opening set victory.  
 
For the set, VSU hit .250 with 14 kills and just four attack errors in 40 swings, while Tampa hit .073 with eight kills and five attack errors in 41 swings.  Along with Smith's six kills, junior Katie Callenberger had four kills to her credit.  The set win by the Blazers marked just fourth lost set by the Spartans this season in the first six-plus games.  VSU held Tampa to 16 points in the frame, marking the fewest points scored by Tampa in a set this season.
 
#1 TAMPA 25, VALDOSTA STATE 16 (SET TWO)
The Spartans scored the first three points of the second set and jumped out to an 8-3 lead followed by a timeout by VSU.  Following the stoppage, the teams each scored two points for a 10-5 Tampa advantage.  A thunderous block from Callenberger and junior Ava Young, followed by an error on Tampa pulled VSU within 11-7.  Back-to-back kills from Tampa pushed its lead to 14-8 and a timeout by the Blazers.  Smith recorded her first kill of the set and seventh of the match for a 14-9 deficit out of the timeout.  Five-straight kills from the Spartans stretched the lead to 19-10.  Blazer senior Audrey Bennett ended the run with a kill of her own, but a bad set gave Tampa a 20-11 lead.  A kill by Callenberger and two more kills by Smith kept the Blazers within striking distance at 21-14, but the Spartans pushed the lead back to nine at 23-14 on a pair of kills.  Tampa won the second set 25-16.  
 
In the second set, VSU hit .174 with ten kills and two errors in 46 swings, while Tampa upped its game to .310 for the set with 18 kills and five attack errors in 42 attempts. 
 
#1 TAMPA 26, VALDOSTA STATE 24 (SET THREE)
Once again, Tampa jumped out to the early lead with three kills and a 3-0 advantage.  A nice block from Pettigrew got the Blazers on the board for the set and Bennet put down her third kill of the match for a 3-2 deficit.  Murray gave VSU its first lead since the first set with a kill off Bennett's 20^th assist of the match and then Callenberger pushed the Blazer lead to 8-6, followed by a kill from Murray and a timeout by the Spartans.  Out of the timeout, Callenberger continued the hot hand with a kill, but the Spartans ended the 5-0 run, scoring three-straight trimming the VSU lead to 10-9.  From there, VSU scored five of the next six points, stretching the lead to 15-10 capped with a kill from Pettigrew.  Smith tallied her 11^th kill of the match for a 16-12 lead and a bad set and then an attack error forced Tampa into a timeout with VSU leading 18-12.  Three quick points from the Spartans out of the timeout forced VSU to take a timeout leading 18-15.  
 
Tampa stretched the run to 6-0 with three kills out of the break knotting the set at 18 and another timeout by the Blazers.  VSU ended the drought helped out by an error on the Spartans, but Tampa quickly tied the set at 19.  Murray gave VSU a 22-21 lead with back-to-back kills, but the Spartans squared the set at 22.  A kill from Tampa's Kalli Cors gave the Spartans a 24-23, but a service error by Tampa kept the Blazers alive in the set at 24-24.  Cors tallied her ninth kill of the match for a 25-24 lead and then Nathaly Perez had the kill for a 26-24 Tampa victory.
 
The third set saw VSU hit .297 with 12 kills, just one attack error in 37 swings, while Tampa countered hitting .255 with 20 kills and six attack errors in 55 swings.  Smith registered her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Perez has 12 kills to lead the way to that point for the Spartans.
 
#1 TAMPA 25, VALDOSTA STATE 11 (SET FOUR)
The Spartans scored six of the first seven points of the fourth set as junior Sabrina Oncins ended the run with a kill beginning a stretch of three-straight points by the Blazers pulling within 6-4.  A miscue by the Spartans trimmed the deficit for the red and black to 6-5.  Tampa rattled off three-straight and a timeout by the Blazers.  Tampa extended its lead to 12-5, before a service error ended the run.  Smith's 12^th kill o the match pulled VSU within 14-8, but a block from Cors forced the Blazers into a timeout, trailing 15-8. Tampa continued to control the set and extended its lead to 18-8.  The Spartans went on for the 25-11 win to clinch the match.
 
VSU returns to action on Saturday at 6 p.m. at The Complex versus Florida Southern.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on the volleyball schedule page for links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more.