COLUMBIA, S.C. – Albany State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Benedict College Lady Tigers 3-2 in a SIAC volleyball match on Tuesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

Benedict won the first two sets 25-15 and 26-24, before Albany State took the next two sets 25-15 and 25-18 to force a deciding fifth set. The Golden Rams won the final set 15-10 to improve to 7-6 overall and 7-3 in the SIAC. Benedict falls to 5-6 overall and 5-5 in the SIAC.

Benedict hit just 17.3 percent for the match, never hitting higher than 20 percent after a strong .333 hitting percentage in the first set. Albany State started out slow, hitting less than 10 percent in the first two sets, only to regroup and finished with a .213 hitting percentage.

Adrionna Washington led Benedict with 15 kills. Torcealon Kelley had a double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs. Majda Cisic also had 18 digs. Brianne McMillian recorded 40 assists.

Chelona Holmes led Albany State with 16 kills and had a double-double with 11 digs. Jannai Cheeks also had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 assists. Jahkishma Soto registered 49 assists.

The turning point came in the third set. Albany State jumped out to an early lead, but the Lady Tigers cut the lead to 11-10 after a kill by Kelley. The Golden Rams reeled off the next four points before Benedict got a point on an ASU service error. But Albany State scored the next seven points to surge ahead for a 22-11 lead. Benedict had a 17-16 lead late in the fourth set before Albany State scored the next six points to pull ahead and closed the set out with the final three points to tie the match at two sets each.

ASU opened the fifth set with the first three points and held the lead for the rest of the way. Benedict cut the lead to 11-10 on a kill by Kelley, but the Golden Rams closed out the set with four straight points, including an ace for the match winning point.

Benedict is back in action for a non-conference meeting with cross-town rival Columbia College on Wednesday at 6 p.m.