COLUMBIA, S.C. – In a battle between two teams fighting for the top spot in the SIAC East Division volleyball race, Albany State University swept the Benedict College Lady Tigers 3-0 on Wednesday. This was Benedict's first home match of the season, which was played at C.A. Johnson High School.

All three sets were very close, but the Lady Rams had the advantage in the 25-20, 25-20, 29-27 victory. Albany State improved to 12-7 overall and solidified its hold on first place in the SIAC with a 9-0 record. Benedict dropped to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the SIAC.

Benedict committed an uncharacteristic 27 blocking errors in the match, while Albany State had none.

“We missed blocking assignments,” said Benedict coach Gwendolyn Rouse. “We missed serves at the wrong time. But our blocking was not good. When they would go to the net, they would just look. When you go to the net, you have got to go with a purpose. We definitely have got to work on our blocking.”

LaTayvia Mack led Benedict with 15 kills, hit .480 and had a team-high seven digs. Lorena Leao added seven kills. Liyah Davis had 25 assists.

Ashley Johnson led Albany State with 16 kills and hit .433. Jennifer Johnson had 46 assists and Adrienne Morris had 13 digs.

In the first set, Albany State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead as Johnson connected on four straight kills. The Lady Rams maintained the lead throughout the set, but Benedict cut the lead to 22-20 after a kill by Terae Sweeting and an Albany attack error. But then Albany closed out the first set with three straight kills.

The second set was close for the early part, with a pair of kills by Mack cutting the lead to 11-10, and a kill by Tatyana Robinson made it 12-11. Another kill by Mack made it 14-12 before Albany went on a run, scoring six of the next eight points to make it 20-14. With the score at 21-15, Robinson dove for a ball and hit her head on the floor. The match was stopped until emergency personnel could arrive. Robinson was transported to a local hospital. When play resumed, the Lady Tigers fought back to trim the lead to 23-20, but the Lady Rams closed out the second set with two straight points.

The third set followed the same formula, as the two teams were neck and neck throughout the entire set. With Albany leading 17-16, the Lady Rams pulled ahead to take a 24-20 lead, with the final point coming when Benedict was out of rotation. But Benedict stormed back with Mack getting a kill, Alexis Flagler and Davis scoring on a block, Leao scoring an ace and an attack error by Albany tied the game at 24. The two teams went back and forth, before a Benedict service error and an attack error gave Albany its final two points to clinch the set and the match.

Benedict returns to action on Friday, hosting Spartanburg Methodist Junior College in an exhibition match. The match will also be played at C.A. Johnson High School, starting at 6 p.m.