TAMPA, Fla. – Valdosta State volleyball (1-8) fell in four sets (9-25, 28-26, 15-25,  20-25) to the Florida Southern Moccasins (6-2) on Saturday evening.

Freshman Madison Kilmer scored the first two Blazer points with kills, but Florida Southern ran out to an 8-2 lead. A kill from senior Sabrina Oncins brought the Blazers within five. A Moccasin run then put them ahead 18-5. The Mocs committed a service error, and an ace from senior Ava Young cut the deficit to 18-7. Junior Asia Montagnani and Kilmer added kills down the stretch, but the Mocs took the first set 25-9.

Sophomore Avery Mullins started the second set with a service ace. Montagnani, Oncins, and Kilmer rattled off early kills to put VSU ahead 6-2. The Mocs stormed back to even the score at six before Oncins broke the tie with a kill to put the Blazers ahead 7-6. Several Florida Southern errors saw the Blazers jump ahead 10-8. Kilmer and Young recorded kills, but the Mocs took a 14-12 lead. Young and Montagnani combined for a block and after two more kills from Kilmer, the teams were tied at 16. Back-to-back kills from senior Katie Callenberger edged VSU in front 18-16. Oncins recorded a kill and then a service ace and the Blazers led 20-18 in the closing stages of the set. The Mocs made a pair of errors which Kilmer followed with another kill. A service ace from Montagnani made it 24-22 Blazers.

The 25 points of regulation were not enough to settle the set, with the teams even 25-25 after a Moccasin service error. Kilmer added yet another kill in crunch time to draw VSU ahead 26-25. Callenberger and Oncins worked together for a block to make it 27-26. Finally, an attack error by Florida Southern closed out the set with a 28-26 Blazer victory.

Florida Southern took a 6-3 lead early in the third set. A Moccasin error set up a service ace by Kilmer that made it 6-4. VSU trailed 13-5 after a run by Florida Southern. Mullins and Callenberger teamed up for a block to cut the deficit to seven. A Moc service error added to the Blazer tally and kills by graduate Macy Brown and Oncins closed the gap to 16-9. Oncins recorded yet another kill, and a second ace from Young brought the Blazers within 18-12. Callenberger added two more kills down the stretch, but Florida Southern took the third set 25-15.

Mullins opened the fourth set with a service ace. It was 8-6 Mocs after a kill by Brown and a pair more from Callenberger. Oncins added a kill and Callenberger notched two in a row to tie the set at ten. The next two Blazer points came on kills from Brown, but the Mocs jumped ahead 16-12. Kills from Young and Oncins brought the score to 17-14. Callenberger added two more kills to bring her tally on the set to six, then teamed up with Brown for a block to cut the deficit to 21-17. Brown added one more kill down the stretch before Florida Southern took a 25-20 victory in the set to win the match.

The Blazer offense was led in kills by Callenberger (10), Kilmer (9), and Oncins (8). Young, Mullins, and Oncins recorded two service aces each. Callenberger's three total blocks were the most by a Blazer. Mullins led the Blazers in assists (31) and tied with freshman Ava Keuntjes to lead the team in digs (13).

Looking Forward
Valdosta State volleyball is back in action at the Complex on Tuesday, Sept. 23^rd at 6 p.m. ET to kick off GSC play. They will take on their fourth nationally ranked opponent of the season in the No. 19 West Florida Argonauts.

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