COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers dropped their third straight match, falling to Fort Valley State 3-0 on Wednesday night at C.A. Johnson High School.
 
Fort Valley State, the top team in the SIAC East Division, improved to 21-4 overall and 15-2 in the SIAC, won the match 25-20, 25-16, 25-20. Benedict falls to 15-8 overall and 9-7 in the SIAC.
 
The Lady Wildcats hit .300 in the match, a season-high for a Benedict opponent. Fort Valley State committed just 12 attack errors in the match on 100 total attacks, including just two attack errors in the first two sets.
 
Benedict hit .106 in the match, recording 30 kills and 20 attack errors on 94 attempts. Mia Burgess led the Lady Tigers with eight kills. Desire' Young had six kills and a game-high four solo blocks. Willow Alls had 13 assists, while Jadyn Murry added 12 assists. La'Jai Wilson led the defense with 14 digs.
 
The Lady Tigers rallied from a 10-5 deficit in the first set to close the gap to 20-19. But the Lady Wildcats closed out the set with a  5-1 run, clinching the set with a service ace.
 
Benedict trailed 17-15 in the second set before Fort Valley State scored seven consecutive points. After a kill by Burgess, they clinched the set with a kill.
 
Fort Vally State jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the third set, but the Lady Tigers fought back with a seven-point run to close the gap to 22-19. A kill by Aiyo Price made it 23-20, but the Lady Wildcats scored the final two points on a Benedict error and a kill.
 
Benedict will travel to Augusta, Ga., to take on Paine College in a non-conference match on Thursday.