West Alabama volleyball fell to Gulf South Conference leader Valdosta State 3-1 inside a packed out Pruitt Hall on Tuesday.

It was the season home opener for West Alabama (7-4; 1-2), who has been on the road for 10 consecutive matches. The Tigers battled back from dropping the first two sets to Valdosta State (10-2; 4-0) with scores of 25-20 and 25-14 to win set three 25-21.

The fans were on their feet as both teams battled to the very end of set four, but the Blazers had the final say with a 27-25 set victory.

“I want to complement our fans tonight,” said UWA head volleyball coach Jordan Lay.

“We had a tremendous showing tonight and that always creates a great atmosphere to for the girls as well as the coaches. We just hope they continue to support us like that all season long.

“We wish we could have delivered a win to our fans in our first home game, especially when we had the conference leader in a corner like we did. We have to just work on our focus and continue to work hard to grind out more wins.”

Morgan Ray and Sadie Beam both led the Tigers in kills with 13 each. Ray has led the Tiger attack for three consecutive matches to now total 127 kills on the season.

Lindsey Ball created 11 digs on defense. She has led the Tigers on defense in every match this season to total 186 digs.

The Tigers are back in action on Friday as they face off against GSC opponent Union in Tiger Stadium. The match is set for 6 p.m.