Follow
The nation’s longest losing streak is over.
Morehouse snapped a 44-match losing streak to earn the first win in program history as it defeated Benedict 25-16, 12-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-13 on Friday in Columbia, South.
Middle attacker Aidan Pullian led all players with a season-high 14 kills on a .357 attack percentage. Pulian also had a team-high three kills in the final game, including the match-winning kill to secure the conference victory for the third-year program.
Benedict (3-14, 2-7 SIAC) in the fifth game erased a three-point deficit with a 6-1 run to take a 10-8 lead. Morehouse, though, responded with a 4-0 run that featured a kill and an ace from opposite Devyn Hardwick to reclaim a lead that it would not relinquish.
Morehouse (1-17, 1-9 SIAC) overcame having a negative attack percentage in the both second and third game and for the match out-hit Benedict .164 to .146.
Along with Pullian, outside attacker Benjamin Attles contributed 11 kills against Benedict. Chase Armstrong coming off the bench for the start of the third game added three kills and had a team-best .400 attack percentage.
Benedict in the loss finished with 18 blocks – eight more blocks than Morehouse.
Middle attacker De’Andrae Taylor had a match-high eight blocks with two blocks coming during the team’s 6-1 run midway through the fifth game.
Taylor added eight kills against Morehouse, while pin-hitter Zion Beckford had a team-high 11 kills.
Benedict with this loss is locked into the No. 5 seed for the upcoming SIAC Tournament. Morehouse entering its regular season finale had already secured the No. 6 seed for the upcoming conference tournament next week.