BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After beating Miles in a morning contest, Clark Atlanta University defeated Benedict 3-0 to knock out the Lady Tigers from the 2015 SIAC volleyball championship tournament on Thursday at the Birmingham Crossplex complex.

The loss ends Benedict's season at 15-15.

Benedict swept Miles 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-22) to eliminate the Golden Bears. The Lady Tigers then waited on a match between Claflin and Clark Atlanta to determine their next opponent. After Claflin beat Clark Atlanta 3-0, the Lady Panthers and Lady Tigers faced off in a loser's bracket elimination game. The two teams split their regular-season meetings, with both contests going five sets. Clark Atlanta won Thursday's meeting 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-17).

The first set started out close, with the two teams tied at 5-5. After the Lady Panthers pulled ahead, back-to-back Clark Atlanta errors helped Benedict cut the lead to 9-8. Clark Atlanta then scored four straight points to take a 13-8 lead. Four straight Benedict points cut the lead to 16-14, but Clark Atlanta regained the momentum with three straight points and a 19-14 lead. Benedict was able to cut the lead to 20-18 on a kill by Arneshia Parrish, but the Lady Panthers scored the next two points. The Lady Tigers got a point on a Clark Atlanta service error, but the Lady Panthers closed out the set with three straight points.

The second set started out close as well. Benedict took a 10-8 lead on a kill by Torcealon Kelley, but Clark Atlanta scored the next three points to pull ahead 11-10. Jocolby Brown tied the score with a kill, but the Lady Panthers pulled ahead with three straight points, all coming off Benedict errors. Another four-point run gave Clark Atlanta an 18-13 lead. Kiarra Pettway got a kill, but Clark Atlanta scored four points in a row to increase the lead to 22-14. Clark Atlanta won the set 25-16.

Clark Atlanta used a four-point run, including back-to-back service aces, to take a 10-4 lead in the third set. Benedict scored six points in a row, getting kills from Brown, Aaliyah Lawson and back-to-back aces by Kelley, to take a 15-14 lead. With Benedict holding a 16-15 lead after a kill by Brown, Clark Atlanta scored the next eight straight points thanks to four errors by Benedict. After a kill by Lawson, the Lady Panthers closed out the match with a Benedict error and a kill.

Benedict recorded 23 kills and committed 22 errors in the match and hit .012. Clark Atlanta had 37 kills, 14 errors and hit .250.

Lawson, Brown and Kelley all had six kills for Benedict. Kelley also had a team-high eight digs. Je'Nae Saunders had 20 assists.

In the first match of the day against Miles, Lawson had nine kills and 10 digs. Saunders had 27 assists and Brown had three of Benedict's seven blocks. Benedict had 11 service aces. The Lady Tigers had 33 kills and just 10 errors for a .221 hitting percentage.

Benedict had a seven-point run in the first set to take a 22-10 lead. A five-point run in the second set gave Benedict a 24-12 lead, and Olivia Williams closed out the set with a kill.

The Lady Tigers had a 19-13 lead in the third set after four straight points, but Miles came back to cut the lead to 24-22. Benedict won the match on a Miles attack error.