COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers opened the 2018 volleyball season with a 3-0 loss to Johnson C. Smith on Thursday in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

The Golden Bulls scored the final three points of the first set to pull off a 26-24 victory, won the second set 25-19 and rallied by scoring 10 of the final 14 points in the third set for a 26-24 victory.

Johnson C. Smith improves to 1-4 on the young season, while Benedict falls to 0-1 after dropping its season opener.

The Lady Tigers hit just .106 in the contest, committed 20 attack errors and had nine service errors and seven reception errors.

V'Aira Harris led the Lady Tigers with 11 kills. Freshman Ashleigh Reeves had a double-double in her debut for the Lady Tigers with 24 assists and 11 digs. Majda Cisic had a team-high 15 digs.

Taylor Smith had 11 kills to lead Johnson C. Smith, while Gorana Bogdanovic added 10 kills.

In the first set, JCSU broke away from a 10-9 score by scoring five of the next six points. Three straight points for Benedict cut the lead to 15-13, but Johnson C. Smith scored the next three points for an 18-13 lead. A five-point run by the Lady Tigers tied the score at 18. Benedict had a 24-23 lead and was one point away from closing out the set, but a kill by Bogdanovic tied the score and a pair of aces clinched the set for the Golden Bulls.

JCSU jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the second set. Benedict rallied to cut the lead to 18-17 on a kill by Harris. Johnson C. Smith got back-to-back points, then added another three in a row for a 23-18 lead and closed out the set with a kill and a block.

Benedict jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the third set. Benedict built a 20-16 lead after a kill by Harris. Three straight points by JCSU cut the lead to 20-19. A JCSU attack error gave Benedict a 21-19 lead, but the Golden Bulls scored the next four points to take a 23-21 lead. Benedict was able to fend off match points twice on kills by Aaliyah Lawson at 24-23 and 25-24, but the Golden Bulls closed out the match with an ace.

Benedict is back in action next Wednesday for a rematch with Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte. The next home match is Sept. 13 against Morris College.