COLUMBIA, S.C. – Johnson C. Smith jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held off a Benedict rally to defeat the Lady Tigers 3-2 in a non-conference volleyball match on Tuesday evening in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Johnson C. Smith took the match 25-19, 25-15, 20-25, 17-25, 15-6 to improve to 12-5 on the season. Benedict falls to 8-10 on the season.

Adrionna Washington led the Benedict attack with 16 kills, while Torcealon Kelley added 15 kills to go along with 10 digs. Brianne McMillian had 44 assists and had a team-high 23 digs. Majda Cisic added 20 digs.

After trailing 2-0, Benedict rallied to tie the match. In the third set, the Lady Tigers pulled away from a 15-15 tie to take a 22-16 lead. After the Golden Bulls cut the lead to 23-19, Benedict got a kill from Kelley before a JCSU attack error ended the set.

Benedict scored four straight points to take a 16-10 lead in the fourth set, thanks to back-to-back kills by Kelley and a service ace by Mariah Cobbin. Kelley added two more kills and Olivia Williams scored an ace to make it 19-11. Benedict clinched the set on a kill by Washington.

JCSU scored five straight points in the fifth set for a 10-4 lead and the Lady Tigers couldn't recover from that deficit.

Benedict is back in action on Friday at home for a 6 p.m. non-conference match against Livingstone.