JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Benedict men's volleyball team opened conference play with a 3-0 victory over Edward Waters on Friday night.
 
The Tigers won the match 25-22, 25-23, 25-21 to improve to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in the SIAC. Edward Waters falls to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in the SIAC.
 
Benedict hit a season-high .338, recording 35 total kills on 74 total attacks with 10 errors. Jared Brown finished with 12 kills on 17 attempts and three errors for a sizzling .529 hitting percentage.
 
Kaden Hoyte recorded 29 assists. Camron Petillo had 10 digs.
 
The Tigers jumped out to an 18-9 lead in the first set, then held off a late Edward Waters rally to claim the first set. Petillo had a kill for the set winning point.
 
The second set was a close, back-and-forth affair. Benedict got a pair of late points on an EWU error and a kill by Mallik Foreman for a 22-19 lead. The two teams traded points until EWU scored back-to-back points to cut the lead to 24-23. A kill by Hakan Godoy clinched the set for Benedict.
 
Benedict jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the third set, but Edward Waters went on a 7-1 run to cut Benedict's lead to 19-17. EWU got within 23-21, but Benedict was able to take command once again and closed out the set with a kill by Godoy, and then an attack error by Edward Waters was the match winning point.
 
Benedict and Edward Waters will square off in a rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Jacksonville.