ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Benedict College men's volleyball team advanced in the SIAC championship with a thrilling five-set victory over Fort Valley State on Wednesday at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center.
The Tigers will face Edward Waters University on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. The winner of that game advances to face Central State University for the first-ever SIAC men's volleyball championship.
Against the Wildcats, Benedict's
Ras Jesse Delancy, the SIAC Player of the Year, finished with a season and career-high 34 kills, while hitting .329 and adding 10 digs for a double-double.
Terran Walkin had a pair of season-high performances with 44 assists and 21 digs.
Benedict won the match 20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 22-25, 15-11 to improve to 9-14 on the season.
Prior to that, Benedict advanced with a three-set sweep over Morehouse, cruising to a 25-15, 25-12, 25-11 victory. Delancy led the attack with 16 kills and hitting .583.
Benjamin Attles added 11 kills while hitting .688, and
Zion Beckford added 10 kills. Walkin had 34 assists and the Tigers notched 12 blocks with
De'Andrae Taylor leading the way with four blocks.
Against Fort Valley State, Benedict rallied in the second set with a seven-point run to take a 17-12 lead. The Wildcats cut the lead to 23-20, but Benedict closed out the set with a FVSU attack error and a kill by Delancy.
Benedict had a 21-17 lead in the third set, but Fort Valley State rallied to take a 24-23 lead. The score was tied at 25 when the Wildcats scored on a kill for a 26-25 lead. Then Benedict scored the next three points, all on FVSU errors, to pull out the third-set win.
The Wildcats used a late six-point run in the fourth set to take a 21-14 lead and held off a late Benedict rally to force a fifth set.
Benedict jumped out to an early lead in the fifth set before the Wildcats cut the lead to 7-6. Benedict scored the next four points for an 11-6 lead. Kills by Attles and Delancy gave the Tigers a 14-10 lead. After a Benedict attack error, Benedict won the match on a Fort Valley State service error.
