COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers avenged an earlier loss with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Clark Atlanta University and sent their three seniors out in style Thursday night in the Benjamin E. Mayes HRC Arena.

Benedict won 21-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 15-10 to improve to 14-5 overall and 13-3 in the SIAC. Clark Atlanta, which beat Benedict 3-0 in Atlanta on October 17, dropped to 11-16 overall and 9-7 in the SIAC.

While the night was scheduled to honor the three seniors, it was junior outside hitter LaTayvia Mack who was the star, recording 24 kills and nearly single-handedly powering several Benedict comebacks. In the deciding fifth game, she scored Benedict's first four points on three kills and a block. She had another important kill after Clark Atlanta had cut the lead to 10-9. She added another kill to make it 13-9 and closed out the match with a kill, giving her seven of Benedict's 15 points in the final game.

Clark Atlanta jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first game and had a 20-11 lead before Mack spurred a late rally to cut the lead to 20-17, but Clark Atlanta scored the next three points and held on for the 25-21 win.

“We got off to a slow start and there was a lot of nervousness because of Senior Day,” said Benedict coach Gwen Rouse. “But all in all, we put it together. The bench came through when we needed them.”

Benedict took the lead in game two at 7-6, but the game stayed close the rest of the way. The Lady Tigers saw their biggest lead at 20-14, but the Lady Panthers scored four points in a row to make it 20-18 and eventually cut the lead to 22-21. Terae Sweeting scored a big kill to make it 23-21, but the Lady Panthers scored the next two points to tie the game at 23. That's when Mack came through with a kill and Ashley Jackson closed out the game with an ace.

After the second game, Benedict honored its three seniors – Tyrealle Reed, Ruth Ann Simms and Jamila Winston.

Benedict struggled in game three. Clark Atlanta went on a 7-1 run to build a 12-6 lead. Benedict was able to cut the lead to 12-15 on a kill by Lorena Leao, but that is as close as the Lady Tigers would get, and Clark Atlanta claimed the 25-16 victory to take a 2-1 lead.

Game four was another close affair with six ties. Benedict took the lead for good at 14-13 on a kill by Sweeting to start a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers. Clark Atlanta cut the lead to 23-19, but Mack scored a kill and Benedict sealed the game on a block by Mack.

“I let them have it after the fourth game,” Rouse said. “I told them they weren't playing with any enthusiasm.”

Mack took the message and stepped up in the fifth game.

“There's nobody in this conference that can hit the ball like LaTayvia,” Rouse said. “Nobody can jump and hit as hard as she can. Thank God she still has another year.”

Sweeting added 10 kills. Ashley Jackson had 44 assists and Simms had a team-high 23 digs.

For Clark Atlanta, Alexandria Mattox had 16 kills and Chanel Trice added 12 kills. Tyneisha Spears had 22 digs.

Benedict, the second seed in the East Division, heads to the SIAC Tournament in Albany, Ga., with first-round matches on Monday.

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