JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Central State took a hard-fought, close 3-1 victory over Benedict in the SIAC Men's Volleyball Championship on Friday.
 
Central State, the second seed, won the match 27-29, 25-15, 25-20, 25-23 to advance to the championship match against top-seed Fort Valley State at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
As was the case during their two regular-season meetings, this was another close battle.
 
The first set was tight the entire way. Central State's 4-1 lead to open the first set was the largest lead by either team. The Tigers tied the score at 6-6 after a kill by Camron Petillo and the score remained a one-point, back-and-forth affair for most of the rest of the set. The Tigers took a 25-24 lead after a service error by the Maruaders, but Central State tied the score on a kill. With the score tied at 27, Benedict captured the final two points on a pair of Central State errors.
 
Central State used a 6-0 run in the second set to take an early 8-2 lead, and later opened up a 15-5 lead and went on to even the match at one set each.
 
In the third set, Central State pulled away from a 12-12 tie with a 4-0 run and the Tigers could never recover.
 
The fourth set had big runs by both teams. Central State jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but Benedict battled back to tie the score at 7-7. The Marauders then scored the next five points, then after a pair of Benedict points, had a 4-0 run to take a 16-9 lead. Trailing 20-12, the Tigers got hot and scored five points in a row to cut the lead to 20-17. Central State scored the next three points, but Benedict scored a pair of points on two Marauder errors to make it 23-19. Central State got the next point on a Benedict error, but the Tigers fought off match point with four straight points, all on CSU errors, to get within 24-23. Central State won the set and match on a Benedict error.
 
Petillo led the Tigers with 10 kills. Matthew Dimapan had 20 assists, and Cameron Long recorded a career-high 21 digs.
 
Benedict wraps up the season at 8-9.