Jacksonville, Florida-The Edward Waters women's volleyball team officially opened SIAC play on Tuesday afternoon with a matchup against East Division rival, Benedict at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex. The Lady Tigers were able to take care of business in protecting their home floor, rolling to a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-18, 25-18) of the visitors.

Edward Waters (3-3, 1-0 SIAC) asserted their dominance early in set #1, opening on an 8-1 run in the match. The Purple & Orange rode the momentum to a convincing 25-11 set victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Benedict (5-2, 3-2 SIAC), who came in to the match riding a three-game winning streak, made things interesting in the second set by darting out to a 9-6 lead to open. Edward Waters fired back with a 7-4 run of their own to square the set at 13-13, then later took their first lead at 17-14. The Purple & Orange were able to close things out from there, taking a 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Set #3 saw the home squad build a lead of as much as six, and took that advantage to a 25-18 win and a clean sweep of Benedict.

The Lady Tigers racked up 31 kills in the match, including eight service aces, nine blocks, 34 assists, and 42 digs. EWU was also able to hold Benedict to a .041 hitting percentage, while hitting .189 themselves. Fatima Ramirez led EWU with 18 kills, including four service aces. Newcomer Brandy Gilberry led the Lady Tigers with six blocks, Mataiya Barber, who eclipsed the 1000 assist mark in her career, dished out 24 more, and Jenieth Guzman had a match high 15 digs.

EWU will next head to Albany, Georgia to take part in the SIAC Crossover on Friday, September 22nd and Saturday, September 23rd.

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