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Outside attacker Isaiah Fedd quickly eliminated any possibilities of an upset in the SIAC Tournament semifinals.
Fedd finished with both match-high four aces and 14 kills on a .450 attack percentage as Fort Valley State swept Benedict 25-19, 25-18, 25-16 on Tuesday in Fort Valley, Georgia.
The All-SIAC junior led all players with five kills in the first game, including two kills during an 11-3 run to open the match. In addition, Fedd in the third game had four kills and an ace as part of a late-game 10-3 run to complete the sweep and advance to the SIAC Tournament finals.
This was the 10th time this season that Fedd had double-digit kills and hit at least .400. Fedd entered the conference tournament in the nation’s top 20 with a 3.76 kills per game average.
Along with Fedd, pin-hitter Jaxon Hicks contributed 10 kills on a .381 attack percentage in the home postseason victory.
Setter Oshane Farquharson guided the offense to more than .350 attack percentage in all three games and out-hit Benedict for the match .386 to .043.
Farquharson also had a match-high four aces highlighted with back-to-back aces late in the second game. The Wildcats ended with 11 aces – 10 more aces than the Tigers.
Libero Constantine Ononye in the victory led all players defensively with 12 digs.
Fort Valley State limited Benedict to a negative attack percentage in the opening game. In addition, all but two Tigers hit less than .100 in the loss.
Benedict advanced to the semifinals after beating Morehouse in the quarterfinals earlier in the day.
Fort Valley State with this victory is now on a 25-match conference winning streak dating back to last season. The defending SIAC champions will face Edward Waters in the conference tournament finals on Wednesday.
Edward Waters defeated Central State in four games in its semifinal match on Wednesday to reach the finals for the first time since 2023.