CARROLLTON, Ga. – The University of West Georgia Volleyball team began conference play with a 3-1 loss to the Valdosta State Blazers on Tuesday night.

"We had a great game plan, going into the match and did a great job of executing early," said head coach Kara Hellmann. "Our back court played great tonight, with Kelli leading the way defensively. We just lost got stalled offensively and lost our rhythm."

UWG (6-4, 0-1) turned in a masterful offensive first set as the Wolves put down 14 kills on a .355 hitting percentage until Valdosta State (8-4, 1-0) adjusted, causing West Georgia to hit .099 the rest of the way, leading to the four-set loss for the Wolves.

UWG came out hot in set one, taking a commanding 10-2 lead after a kill from Sanai Young. After a point from VSU, a kill from Caitlin Frazee ignited an 8-1 West Georgia run, extending the Wolves' lead to 18-4. Down by a whopping 12 points, the Blazers woke up and cut UWG's lead to five courtesy of a 10-1 run, forcing coach Hellmann to burn a timeout. After the timeout, West Georgia scored five of the next six pints to win the set, 25-15.

It was a competitive start to the second set as Valdosta State held a 10-8 lead to begin. A kill from Sarah Pipping and two errors by VSU kept UWG in the set until a kill from the Blazers' Christiana Pettigrew sparked a mini 3-0 run to extend Valdosta State's lead to 17-12. West Georgia cut the deficit to two, by scoring the next three points before the Blazers went on to win the set, 25-17.

Three early kills from Pipping propelled the Wolves to an early 10-8 lead before the Blazers scored the next seven points to take a 15-10 advantage. Another kill from Pipping swung the momentum back in favor of West Georgia as UWG rattled off four of the next five points until back-to-back kills from Valdosta State's Jojo Smith and Mackenzie Murray halted that momentum and made it a 19-15 game late. Kills from Zoë LaBreche, Marley Staats, and Young kept the set close, but VSU would eventually go on to win it, 25-20.

Much like the previous two sets, the fourth set got off to a back-and-forth start, leaving the score tied at 12 mid-way through until Young caught fire, recording three kills in the midst of a 5-0 UWG run to give the Wolves a 17-12 lead. With West Georgia up by five late, it seemed as though we were destined for a fifth set until a kill from VSU's Murray completely flipped the momentum in favor of the Blazers as Valdosta State went on to score 13 of the next 14 points to win the set, 25-18.

Pipping led the way offensively with 13 kills on a .222 hitting percentage, while Kelli Kaiser recorded a career-high 24 digs.

"We will keep working and improving and look forward to this weekend," Hellmann concluded.

West Georgia will be back in action on Friday when they host the Lee Flames for a 6:00 p.m. GSC matchup.