PENSACOLA, Fla. — The University of North Alabama women’s soccer team earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Valdosta State on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division South Region Tournament.

UNA (13-5-1) will now face West Florida Sunday at 1 p.m. in the regional semifinal. The winner of that match will face the Tampa-Rollins winner on Nov. 16 in the South Region final.

Playing in the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season, UNA got a goal in the 55th minute to break a scoreless tie against Valdosta State (14-4-2). A shot by Melanie Leonida was blocked but Jennifer Osmond was there to play the deflection back into the net and give UNA a 1-0 lead. It was Osmond’s 10th goal of the season and the 36th or her career.

UNA freshman goalkeeper Morgan Grace was stellar in her 90 minutes in goal with five saves to preserve a shutout and the win. The Lions out-shot Valdosta State 17 to 14.

The win was the second NCAA post-season win for the Lions. UNA defeated Florida Southern 3-2 in the first round of the 2009 South Regional before falling to West Florida in the semifinal. North Alabama suffered first round losses in the 2010 and 2011 regionals to Tampa.

UNA Volleyball

ROME, Ga. — Despite holding an advantage in kills and digs, the University of North Alabama volleyball team came up on the short end of a 3-0 decision at Shorter on Friday.

The Lions had more than 20 attack errors for the third straight match, hitting .186 against the Hawks in the 18-25, 21-25, 23-15 defeat.

UNA (11-16) had 43 kills to the Hawks’ 36. The Lions also had a 55-45 advantage in digs. Shorter, however, made the most of its opportunities, committing just 11 errors and hitting .229 as a team. The Hawks also had eight service aces.

UNA got most of its offense from Jessica Ronyak and Cara Gregg. The duo recorded 11 kills each, with Ronyak netting a .381 hitting percentage. Hope Rayburn added 41 assists for the Lions.

Defensively, Alex Panks led the way with 13 digs. Caroline Neisler added 12 digs while Priscilla Massengale also reached double figures with 11 digs. The Lions will close out the regular season today with a GSC road match at West Georgia. Match time is set for noon at The Coliseum on the UWG campus.