Box Score ALBANY, Ga. – The Benedict College volleyball team was knocked out of the 2012 SIAC Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 loss to Albany State on Friday morning.

After struggling in the first two sets, falling 25-13 and 25-12, the Lady Tigers had an eight point lead in the third set before the Lady Rams rallied to tie the score at 18. The rest of the set was neck-and-neck, before Albany State squeaked out a 33-31 victory.

Benedict ends the season at 17-11.

LaTayvia Mack led the Lady Tigers with 10 kills. Lorena Leao had seven kills and a team-high 13 digs. Ashley Jackson had 15 assists and five digs.

The first set was tied at 9-9 before Albany State reeled off four straight points to take the lead. The Lady Rams had a 7-0 run to make it 24-11.

Albany State jumped out to an 18-9 lead in the second set before Benedict scored four straight points to cut the lead to 18-13. The Lady Rams scored the final seven points to seal the second set.

Benedict came out strong in the third set, taking a 16-8 lead before Albany State rallied back to tie the set at 18. Albany State pulled ahead 22-20, but Benedict tied it at 22. Neither team could take more than a one-point lead the rest of the way. Leao had kills to tie the match at 23 and 24, while back-to-back kills by Mack gave Benedict a 26-25 lead and 27-26 lead. A kill by Leao tied the set at 29, and another kill by Mack gave Benedict a 31-30 lead. But then Albany State was able to get the final three points to clinch the match.

“They played well in that third set,” said Benedict coach Gwendolyn Rouse. “They played their butts off. They went down fighting. This tournament, LaTayvia proved she is player of the year.”

Rouse said she considers the 2012 season a success, even though the team came up one spot short of the top-three finish in the conference tournament she was hoping for. The team was never able to practice on the Benedict gym floor, which was being replaced, all season, and only played one match there. The team was forced to practice in small gyms.

“Considering the whole situation, I can't say we had a bad season,” Rouse said. “The gym is a big difference. We played bad against Claflin in the tournament, but other than that, we played well. We beat the top two teams from the West Division, including Kentucky State which had won the last two tournament championships.”