Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. – A short delay when the lights went out near the end of the first set stalled Benedict's momentum and helped Fayetteville State regroup and rally, and the visiting Broncos went on to take a 3-1 non-conference volleyball victory over the Lady Tigers on Wednesday at Eau Claire High School.
Fayetteville State won 24-26, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14. Benedict fell to 12-9 overall. Fayetteville State improved to 20-5.
Benedict had a 24-20 lead in the first set and
Ashley Jackson was serving for set point. A service error gave Fayetteville State a point, and then the lights in the gym went out. After a short delay, the teams resumed play while the lights were still warming up.
An attack error by Benedict made it 24-22, and Fayetteville State followed with an ace. With the score tied at 24, Fayetteville State's Joi Emanuel had back-to-back kills to clinch the first set 26-24.
“We should have won the first game,” said Benedict coach
Gwendolyn Rouse. “The lights going out killed us. There went our momentum.”
Benedict won the second set 25-21 as
LaTayvia Mack closed out the game with a kill and a block.
The third set was close as well as Fayetteville State pulled away form a 20-20 tie to win 25-22.
Fayetteville State scored seven straight points in the fourth set to take a 16-8 lead and went on to take the set 25-14.
Mack led Benedict with 11 kills, while
Lorena Leao had 10 kills and a team-high 15 digs.
Ashley Jackson had 26 assists.
Benedict struggled against the bigger Fayetteville State team, hitting just .093. The Broncos had 20 blocks and 63 kills. Joylene Thompson had 14 kills, while Emanuel and Jessica Hardy each had 13 kills. Emanuel also had 10.5 blocks.
“I told Ashley (Jackson) before the game don't set the ball in the middle, and she still kept setting the ball in the middle,” Rouse said. “But we played much better this time against them. When we played there, we looked horrible.”
Benedict closes out the regular season on Thursday at home against Clark Atlanta. This will be senior night for the Lady Tigers.
