COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers opened the 2023 volleyball season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Paine College on Tuesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Benedict took a 25-10, 25-13, 25-17 victory behind 12 kills from Kaiah Green.

The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 11-1 lead in the first set. Kills from Nyla Troncoso and Kylie Jackson helped Benedict increase the lead to 19-4. A kill by Green closed out the first set.

Benedict broke away from a close 13-10 lead in the second set with an eight-point run. Krislenn Lucas had a kill and Jadyn Murry had a service ace during that surge. Benedict clinched the set with the final three points coming on a pair of Paine set errors and a kill by Thomas.

An early 7-0 run in the third set gave the Lady Tigers an 11-3 lead as Kylie Jackson and Mya Dixon had kills. Paine cut the lead to 19-12, but Benedict scored the next four points, getting kills from Green and Jackson, to make it 23-12. Another kill by Green made it 24-13 for match point, but Paine scored the next four points. Green then scored another kill to close out the match.

The Lady Tigers travel to take on Fort Valley State in their SIAC opener on Friday. They return home for matches against Savannah State on Monday and Johnson C. Smith next Tuesday.