COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College men's volleyball won the first two sets, but then Edward Waters rallied to claim the next three to take a 3-2 victory in a SIAC match on Wednesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.
Edward Waters won the match 15-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20, 16-14 in a hard-fought battle that went down the wire.
Camron Petillo had a season-high 18 kills to lead the Benedict Tigers, while
Hakan Godoy had a career-high 11 kills.
Zion Beckford also had 11 kills.
Cameron Long had 12 digs, while Petillo recorded 10 digs for a double-double.
Kendersley Marcellin had a career-high 46 assists.
Benedict jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead in the first set, and had a 21-8 lead before Edward Waters closed the gap to 23-15. Benedict sealed the set with a pair of Edward Waters errors.
The second set was tied at 22 when the Benedict Tigers got a kill from Godoy, then closed out the set after a pair of Edward Waters errors.
Edward Waters used a 9-0 run in the third set to build a 14-6 lead and went on to take the 25-15 win.
Benedict had a 15-13 lead in the fourth set before Edward Waters used a 9-2 run to pull ahead 22-17. Benedict got the next two points on a kill by Beckford and an Edward Waters error. Edward Waters scored three of the next four points for the 25-20 victory and force a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set was a close, back-and-forth affair. Edward Waters took an early 6-4 lead. Benedict scored the next two points, then Edward Waters scored the next two points to go back up 8-6. Benedict scored four points in a row, including a pair of kills by Beckford, for a 10-8 lead. After Edward Waters scored the next three points to make it 11-10, the two teams traded points, with a kill by Godoy tying the score at 14-14. Edward Waters then got a kill and won the match after a Benedict attack error.
Edward Waters won its first match of the season to improve to 1-10 overall and 1-0 in the SIAC. Benedict falls to 3-6 overall and 0-3 in the SIAC. Benedict is back in action on Thursday with a 4 p.m. non-conference match against Life in the HRC Arena.
