The Lee volleyball team found the going tough in its first road trip in the Gulf South Conference. After falling 3-0 to Valdosta State on Friday night, the Lady Flames battled hard but dropped a 3-1 decision to host West Georgia on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolves out-battled the Lady Flames in the first set, 25-22. The Lady Flames fought back and claimed the second set, 20-25 but West Georgia secured the match by winning the third set 25-17 and the final game 25-20.The
Wolves improved to 8-3 on the year and 2-1 in GSC
.
Lee slips to 5-3 and 2-1 in conference action.
Paula Martins was excellent for the Lady Flames. She had 16 kills and a .371 attack mark. She also registered four blocks and four digs. Latrice
Johnson followed in the kill department with 12. She contributed nine digs and a pair of blocks.
Freshman Erin Hill adjusted quickly to a new role and had 23 assists, three blocks and four kills. Lauren Williams had another fine afternoon at the net with eight blocks and seven kills. Becky Bourne dished off 20 assists, while Libby Peigen
had 14 digs and Debbie Magalhaes
came away with 10 digs.
For the balanced
West Georgia attack, Leslie Bemis had 12 kills and .417 attack percentage. Helen Menchinger
had 10 kills, while Amanda Miller stood out with 38 assists, seven digs and three blocks. Melissa Holt added 12 digs to the winning attack.
The long road trips continue for the Lady Flames next weekend when they travel to Jackson to face old TranSouth
rival Union University on Friday and then move on to Memphis to face Christian Brothers on Saturday afternoon. In a non-conference game, Lee will travel to Atlanta to test an always strong Emory University on Oct. 8 before returning to Walker Arena on Oct. 11 and hosting four straight home dates.
VALDOSTA STATE 3, LEE 0
Surging Valdosta State University ended Lee's five-match winning streak with a 3-0 victory on Friday evening. The Lady Flames had not lost since the opening match of the Lee Invitational but Valdosta jumped on top with a 25-16 first set win and improved its own winning streak to six straight.
Lee battled back in the second set but dropped a 26-24 decision before losing the final set 25-20. Valdosta improves to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in Gulf South Conference play. Lee stands at 5-2 and 2-1 in league action.
Coach Andrea Hudson's club was playing without setter Camil
Martinez, who will be lost for the next five matches as she has returned to the Dominican Republic to play with the national squad.
Lee's Martins had 10 kills and seven digs in the loss. Johnson added nine kills and five digs, while Williams joined in with eight kills and three blocks. She also had a .444 hitting percentage. Bourne stepped in and delivered 30 assists, six digs and three blocks for the Lady Flames, while Peigen
came up with 14 digs.
Jenna Kirkwood had 14 kills for the winners. Jessica Codato
came away with a double-double, 27 assists and 12 digs, while Natalia Campos tallied 14 digs. Destiny Berry also contributed eight kills and three blocks.