COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers took the first set, but then dropped the next three sets as Central State took a 3-1 victory in a SIAC men's volleyball match on Wednesday in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.
Central State won the match 15-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23 to improve to 7-11 overall and 3-3 in the SIAC. Benedict falls to 8-7 overall and 4-3 in the SIAC.
The Tigers used a pair of 4-0 runs to take a 15-7 lead in the first set. The Marauders were able to trim the lead to 18-14 before the Tigers reeled off four more points on a kill by
Camron Petillo and three CSU attack errors. After a CSU kill, the Tigers closed out the set with two more Marauder errors and a kill by
Matthew Dimapan.
Central State used a 7-0 run late in the second set to pull away from a close contest to take a 23-14 lead and went to take the 25-18 victory.
In the third set, Central State started to pull away from another tight battle with three straight points for a 14-10 lead. The Marauders later had a 19-15 lead before scoring the next five points. A kill by
Roy Berry stopped the run, but Central State wrapped up the set with a kill.
With the match on the line, the Tigers started out the fourth set with focused determination and jumped out to a 6-1 lead after Berry served three consecutive aces. Central State chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the score at 14. The two teams traded points in the emotionally charged match until a pair of Benedict errors gave Central State its first lead in the set, 20-19. A kill by
Hakan Godoy got Benedict to within 23-22, but the Marauders scored a kill for match point. A kill by
Jared Brown made it 24-23. Central State closed out the match with a kill.
Petillo had nine kills to lead Benedict. Dimapan had 31 assists and
Cameron Long had a team-high six digs. Benedict hit .116 as a team, compared to .301 for Central State. The Marauders had 21 service errors.
Benedict and Central State will have a rematch on Thursday, starting at 5 p.m. in the HRC Arena, for the final match of the regular season for Benedict. The Tigers will honor three seniors playing in their final home match.
