COLUMBIA, S.C. – Cana Smith had a season-high 18 kills, including five in the crucial fourth set, as the Benedict College Lady Tigers defeated Johnson C. Smith 3-1 in a non-conference women's volleyball match on Tuesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.
 
Desire' Young added a season-high 17 kills as the Lady Tigers improve to 3-1 on the season. Johnson C. Smith falls to 2-4. Benedict won the match 25-16, 25-16, 18-25, 25-22.
 
Smith also had 16 digs for her first double-double of the season. La'Jai Wilson had a team-high 17 digs. Kaiah Green added 11 kills and had a team-high three blocks. Willow Alls had 30 assists, while Jadyn Murry added 27 assists.
 
Johnson C. Smith had a 12-11 lead in the first set before Benedict scored the next six points for a 17-12 lead, then added a five-point run for a 23-14 lead. The Lady Tigers closed out the set with kills from Green and Krislenn Lucas.
 
In the second set, Benedict built a quick 10-4 lead and cruised to the 25-16 win, closing out the set with a kill from Young and a JCSU error.
 
The Golden Bulls used a six-point run in the third set to take a 14-11 lead, then later had a four-point run for a 21-15 lead and went on to take the 25-18 win and force a fourth set.
 
Johnson C. Smith built a 12-6 lead and still had a 15-9 lead before Benedict rallied, scoring seven of the next eight points to tie the match at 16-16. After the Golden Bulls pulled ahead 21-19, the Lady Tigers rallied again with four straight points, three of those on kills by Smith. Johnson C. Smith scored to make it 23-22, but Benedict closed out the match with a kill by Lucas and then a block by Lucas for match point.
 
Benedict travels to Memphis, Tenn., to take on SIAC rivals Lane College and LeMoyne-Owen College in a tri-match on Saturday. Benedict won't be home again until Sept. 27 for a non-conference match against Livingstone.