LAURINBURG, N.C. (Nov. 7, 2014) â€" Five close games yielded another victory for the Milligan College volleyball team as the Buffaloes defeated St. Andrews University 3-2 (25-23, 14-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10) in Appalachian Athletic Conference action on Friday evening.
 
With the win, Milligan (16-15, 10-3 AAC) moved into the third-place seat in the AAC, but it will take another win over Columbia College to retain that seat uncontested, as the Reinhardt University Eagles (16-10, 10-4 AAC) stand only half a game behind the Buffs after their recent loss to Union College. However, Milligan has not lost a conference match in over a month, providing them with serious momentum with the AAC tournament in sight.
 
The match against St. Andrews was the fifth time that Milligan had gone into a fifth set to settle a match, and they came out once more with a victory. However, it did not come easily.
 
The Lady Knights put constant pressure on Milligan, scoring at least 22 points in every game, excluding the tie-breaker in which they scored 10.
 
Game one started with a 4-1 Lady Knight lead, but a quick rally from the Buffs saw them take control and maintain it for the rest of the game, despite St. Andrews attempts to make a comeback. Milligan took the win 25-23.
 
The Buffs were the first to strike in game two, but St. Andrews unhorsed Milligan's lead and charged ahead, soundly defeating the Buffs 25-14, largely in part due to the four Lady Knights who recorded 11 or more kills over the course of the night.
 
St. Andrews was still on the charge as they once again rallied from an early Milligan lead in game three to earn their second win in the match (25-22), standing only one more game away from a huge conference win.
 
It seemed to be the end for Milligan as the Lady Knights held the lead for most of game four, but a six-point run led by Jessica Davenport, who recorded her eighth double-double of the year, gave the points the Buffs needed to take the win, 25-22.
 
There was no question where the momentum lay in game five as Milligan charged out to a 7-1 lead off three service aces by Davenport.  A series of errors from St. Andrews and a few kills from Charlie Bateman, who hit 7-for-13 with no errors on the evening, earned the Buffs a 15-10 win and the match.
 
Marissa Langford earned 12 kills and added five digs and five blocks in the Milligan win. Emilee Linkous added 11 kills of her own while also getting a hand on eight of the total 12 blocks the Buffs made against St. Andrews.
 
Davenport earned her double-double with 11 digs and 41 assists, but she also added six service aces, three kills and two block assists to her stats on the evening.
 
The next match for the Buffs may be their most important one as they travel to Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday, Nov. 8 to take on Columbia College in their final AAC match of the regular season. A win over the Fighting Koalas will solidify the Buffs hold on third place, giving them a higher seed moving into the AAC tournament which will take place on Nov. 13-14 at the MeadowView Marriot in Kingsport, Tennessee.?