Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. – Playing in their first and only home match of the year and in front of a large student body, the Benedict College Lady Tigers defeated the Clark Atlanta Lady Panthers 3-1 in an SIAC volleyball contest on Thursday night.
The Lady Tigers took the match 25-14, 18-25, 25-19, 25-13 to close out the regular season with a 13-9 overall record, 11-5 in the SIAC. Clark Atlanta drops to 18-17 overall, 12-4 in the SIAC.
Ashley Jackson had a season-high 48 assists and a team-high 11 digs.
LaTayvia Mack had 17 assists and hit .455.
Lorena Leao had 14 kills, six service aces and seven digs.
“Number one, they really wanted to play in their own gym. The crowd really came out and supported them. And the seniors wanted to go out on a good note,” said coach
Gwendolyn Rouse. “The main thing is we ended on a good note and that's taking us to the tournament on a good note.”
The Lady Tigers head to the SIAC Tournament next week at Albany State University. The tournament begins on Wednesday. The SIAC office will announce tournament pairings later.
Three seniors – Mack, Courtney Bobo-McKenzie and
Asia Bailey – were recognized and honored during the match.
In the first set, Benedict broke away from an 11-11 tie with seven straight points. With Benedict leading 19-12, Clark Atlanta committed five errors to make it 24-13. A kill by Terea Sweeting closed out the first set, 25-14.
Clark Atlanta had a 16-15 lead in the second set when the Lady Panthers scored six straight points to take a 22-15 lead. Benedict cut the lead to 23-18, before Clark Atlanta closed out the set with back-to-back points for a 25-18 victory.
Benedict used another late run in the third set, pulling away from a 17-17 tie with six straight points for a 23-17 lead.
Alexis Flagler had two aces in the run, while Sweeting and Jackson added kills. Leao closed out the set with a kill for a 25-19 win.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the fourth set. With Benedict leading 15-9, the Lady Tigers went on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a pair of kills by Bobo-McKenzie, a kill and an ace by Leao, a kill by Mack and a block by Flagler and Mack. Kills by Mack, Sweeting and Leao closed out the set with kills to wrap up the 25-13 win.
“Overall, they played a good match,” Rouse said. “Our serving was consistent, our serve receiving was better and we won a lot of the rallies.”
