COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College women's volleyball team gave their seniors a sendoff they will never forget on Tuesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

The Lady Tigers defeated Fort Valley State 3-2, with the fifth and deciding set going to a thrilling finish. Benedict, now 16-8 overall and 9-5 in the SIAC, won the first two sets before taking a break to honor their five seniors. Once play resumed, Fort Valley State narrowly won the next two sets to tie the match. In the fifth and deciding set, the Lady Wildcats jumped out to a commanding 10-2 lead, only to see the Lady Tigers storm back, and score the final three points to take a 19-17 victory.

Fort Valley State falls to 8-14 overall and 3-12 in the SIAC.

The first set was all Benedict, as the Lady Tigers scored the final 10 points of the set for a 25-9 win. The second set was close and tied at 12-12 before Benedict scored six of the next eight points for an 18-14 lead. Fort Valley State cut the lead to 22-19. Cana Smith closed out the set with a kill for a 25-20 victory.

Benedict then honored five seniors: Defensive specialist Amber Scott, outside Kiera Brothers, middle blocker Daija Walton, defensive specialist June Hollins, and setter Ashleigh Reeves.

Once play resumed, Benedict had a 22-20 lead in the third set before Fort Valley State closed out the set strong. A Fort Valley service error gave Benedict a 23-22 lead, but the Lady Wildcats closed out the set with a kill, an ace and a Benedict error for a 25-23 victory.

Benedict had an 18-12 lead in the fourth set, but once again Fort Valley State rallied to tie the score at 22-22. Jordan Reeves gave Benedict a 23-22 lead with a kill, before the Lady Wildcats finished off with back-to-back Benedict attack errors and a kill for a 25-23 win.

After Fort Valley State had a 10-2 lead in the fifth set, Benedict scored four points in a row, getting kills by Kaiah Green and Kennede Thomas. Fort Valley State had a 13-8 lead before the Lady Tigers scored the next four points on three Lady Wildcat errors and a kill by Thomas. Two more FVSU errors tied the score at 14-14. The two teams traded points, with the score tied at 15, 16 and 17. Benedict took the lead on a FVSU error, and Cana Smith served an ace for the match-winning point.

Smith led the Lady Tigers with 16 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double. Green added 10 kills. Reeves had 43 assists and 19 digs. Scott also had 19 digs.

The Lady Tigers close out the regular season with three road matches, starting with a trip to Clark Atlanta on Friday.