COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College men's volleyball team took a thrilling 3-2 victory over Catawba College in their home opener on Wednesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.
 
Benedict won the match 17-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 15-10 to improve to 2-2 on the season. The Tigers avenged a 3-0 loss to Catawba two weeks ago. Catawba drops to 5-8.
 
Benedict got off to a slow start, as Catawba scored the first six points and led 21-6 in the first set. The Tigers regrouped and outscored Catawba 11-3 to cut the lead to 24-17 before the Indians closed out the first set on a kill.
 
The second set stayed close the entire way, with the Tigers holding an 18-17 lead before the two teams traded points until the match was tied at 21. From there, Benedict scored the final four points, with three coming on Catawba errors. A kill by Denzel Pepper clinched the set.
 
Catawba used a 5-0 run late in the third set to pull away from another close match and closed out the set with a kill.
 
The Tigers jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth set. Catawba used a late 7-2 run to tie the score at 22. Benedict closed out the set with the final three points as Camron Petillo scored a kill and then served an ace for the winning point and force a fifth set.
 
Benedict scored the first four points in the deciding fifth set and later had a 6-2 lead. A pair of Catawba errors gave the Tigers an 8-3 lead. The Indians were able to cut the score to 12-8, but the Tigers got back-to-back kills by Mallik Foreman and Kaden Hoyte for a 14-8 advantage. Catawba scored the next two points, but a Catawba service error was the match-winning point.

Foreman had 13 kills to lead the Tigers, while Petillo had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Cameron Long had 15 digs, while Hoyte recorded 32 assists.
 
The Tigers play at Truett McConnell on Friday at 7 p.m., and then return home on Monday for a rematch with Truett McConnell in the HRC Arena at 7 p.m.