Milligan College, Tenn. (Sept. 13, 2012) --- The Milligan College volleyball held off a late charge to take a thrilling 3-2 set victory over Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Montreat College on Thursday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
   The Buffaloes fell behind early, but closed the gap with a 7-1 run to tie the set at 12-12. Milligan continued to hold the momentum as they outpaced the Lady Cavaliers to take a 25-21 set victory. The match's second set saw the teams stay even most of the way before the Buffaloes pulled out to a late lead and a 25-22 set victory.
 
   The Lady Cavaliers battled back as they took a 25-17 victory in the third set, and then jumped out early to take a 25-14 win in the fourth set to send the game to a fifth set. In the decisive fifth set, Montreat jumped out to an early lead, but the Buffaloes scored three straight points to tie the match at 6-6. Neither team could pull away before the Buffaloes ended the match with a 15-13 set victory.
 
   Kylie Whaley (Maryville, Tenn.) and Holly English (Kingsport, Tenn.) ended the match with 13 kills, while freshman Emilee Linkous (Morristown, Tenn.) had 10 kills. AAC Libero of the week Katelin Henson (Kingsport, Tenn.) recorded a team high 20 digs. Jessica Davenport (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Kaitlyn Qualls (Broomfield, Colo.) had 13 and 11 digs, respectively. Senior Chelsea Spivey (Gate City, Va.) had 42 assists in the match.
 
   “I'm thrilled that we can walk away with a win, although we are still having our peaks and valleys,” Head Coach Doneva Bays said. “We came out so focused in the first two sets and just had a little let down. When you give a team momentum, it is hard to fight back, but I am still impressed with our fight.”
 
   With the win, Milligan improves to 7-5 overall and 3-0 in AAC action.
 
   The Buffaloes return to action on Friday, Sept. 21, when they host AAC foe Columbia (S.C.) College inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Match time is slated for 6:30 p.m.