ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The Paine College volleyball team opened the season with a 3-0 loss at Claflin Tuesday evening.

The Lady Lions are now 0-1 on the season while Claflin stands at 1-0.

Set scores were 25-22, 25-20 and 25-12.

Head coach Kisha Lucette's team was led by seven kills from Najla Betts. Akirah McCrae slammed home six kills while hitting .625. Jamaya Allen chipped in four kills while Makayla Evans and Kennedy Williams posted two kills apiece.

Jamia Seals dished out 10 assists and had a pair of service aces.

Defensively, Kennedy Williams and Kelsey Williams were each in on a pair of block assists. At the back line, Myah Beasley garnered 14 digs. Micah Taylor totaled six digs.

For the match, PC started the contest with 12 kills and just four errors for a .333 attack percentage. The squad totaled eight kills in the second stanza and four in the third. Overall, the team registered 24 kills and hit .123.

The team accounted for five aces, two blocks, 22 assists and 32 digs in the hard-fought match.

Down 10-7 in the first set, three straight errors by the home team knotted the score at 10-10. When Kelsey Williams and Kennedy Williams combined for a block, the Lady Lions took a one-point lead. Moments later, McCrae and Betts pounded home kills for a 16-14 advantage. With the score at 21-20, Claflin scored three straight points en route to the three-point win.

Paine took a 5-3 lead in the second stanza after points from Beasley, Evans and McCrae. Trailing 16-13, two errors by the Panthers and an ace from Seals knotted the contest. PC trailed 19-17 but took a one-point advantage after an error, a kill from Allen and a block from Kelsey Williams and Kennedy Williams. However, Claflin scored six straight to close out the frame.

The Lady Lions return to action Thursday, Sept. 5, when they host Johnson & Wales (Charlotte) at 6 p.m.