COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers picked up a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Truett-McConnell University in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena behind several season-best performances.
 
Benedict won the match 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13, avenging an early season 3-0 loss to the Bears.
 
Freshman Camron Petillo had a season-high 19 kills to go along with a season-high 10 digs for his first double-double to lead the Tigers, while freshman Jackson Fehring-Terrell had a season-high 16 kills. Freshman Jaiden Romes-Crawley had a season-high 48 assists, and senior Clint Forbes had a season-high 27 digs. Benedict also recorded a season-high 13 blocks in the match, as Crawley had a season-high four blocks.
 
Benedict improves to 3-14 on the season, while Truett-McConnell falls to 6-18.
 
The Tigers had a 23-18 lead in the first set, but then the Bears scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to 24-22. Benedict won the set on a Truett-McConnell service error. Benedict jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the second set, and had an 18-11 lead before the Bears rallied back. Truett-McConnell scored the next four points, and later cut the lead to 22-19. After a Benedict point, the Bears scored the final six points of the set.
 
Benedict staged a late rally to claim the third set. The Bears had a 23-20 lead before the Tigers scored the final five points behind the serving of Zion Beckford. The fourth set was another close battle, with the two teams tied at 23. Truett-McConnell closed out the set with a kill and a Benedict error to force a deciding fifth set.
 
The Bears took an early 7-4 lead, but Benedict scored the next three points to tie the score. The Bears had a 10-9 lead before the Tigers got three kills to pull ahead. With the score tied at 13, Benedict got back-to-back kills by Beckford to clinch the match.
 
The Tigers will host Morehouse at 6 p.m. on Friday as they celebrate Senior Day.