Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. – Terae Sweeting had 14 kills and Lorena Leao had a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs as the Benedict College Lady Tigers swept Paine 3-0 in their home opener on Thursday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Benedict won 25-14, 25-14, 25-18 to improve to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the SIAC. Paine fell to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in the SIAC.

Ashley Jackson had 28 assists while JeNae Saunders had 14 digs. The Lady Tigers had 12 service aces.

The Lady Tigers pulled away from a close match in the first game with nine consecutive points. Leao had a pair of aces and a kill, Sweeting had three kills and Asia Bailey had a block.

In the second game, Benedict pulled away from a 7-7 tie to go ahead 14-9. Brown had a pair of blocks and two kills, while Sweeting had an ace. Back-to-back kills by Sweeting gave Benedict a 22-14 lead. Jackson had an ace and Liyah Davis closed out the game with a kill.
Paine jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the third game, but Benedict rallied back to take a 9-8 lead on back-to-back kills by Brown. A pair of kills and an ace by Leao gave Benedict a 16-11 lead. Paine closed the gap to 16-14, but the Lady Tigers pulled ahead with six straight points, with Leao and Sweeting each registering a kill, and Jackson recording an ace. Paine got to within six at 23-17, but kills by Sweeting and Brown closed out the game.

"Overall I think they did good. The blocking was consistent, the hitting was consistent and we didn't have too many defensive errors," said head coach Gwendolyn Rouse. "We've still got to work on our serve receiving, but overall, I think they played well. For the first game at home, there were some jitters, but the student body was into it."
"Terae had an exceptional game. She really hit the ball well. Lorena had a good game all-around. And she served well. Ashley served well and really mixed up the sets. The blocking was definitely better with Jocolby and Asia."

Benedict leaves for the SIAC Crossover next week, where the Lady Tigers will play six teams from the SIAC West Division over three days.