MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Sept. 5, 2014) â€" Fresh off a 3-1 record in the Mountain Madness Tournament at home last weekend, the Milligan College women's volleyball team was unable to gain momentum as it fell in both matches on day one of the Faulkner Invitational Friday night.
 
Milligan moved to 4-4 overall on the season with the losses and will look to recover in its next two tournament matches.
 
The Buffaloes started their first game against Faulkner strong, taking a quick lead of 4-1. They held this lead until, after a Faulkner timeout, the Eagles went on a 10-point run. The Buffs scored two points to put the game at 24-20, but Alysa Klassen ended the match with her kill to take the win for Faulkner.
 
The Buffs would not be so easily defeated in game two, as they were able to gain a small lead and hold onto it, sealing the win with a four-point run to end the game at 25-20.
 
However, the Eagles would end the match by going on to win games three and four, both with the score of 25-12. The Eagles benefited from 13 Milligan errors in game three, and 13 kills served to end the match in game four.
 
Freshman Marissa Langford led the Buffs with 11 kills in the match, aided by junior Jessica Davenport who recorded 30 assists and 11 digs in the four-game match. Senior Kaitlyn Round recorded a match-high 18 digs for the Buffs.
 
Milligan's second opponent of the day was Spring Hill College, who recently changed conferences to the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and was slated to take second in their first year of competition.
 
They would not disappoint in their performance, sweeping the Buffs 3-0.
 
Sophomore Bailey Thomas led the Buffs with 10 kills while Bruinius and Langford added nine and eight, respectively. Davenport obtained 28 assists and recorded one service ace. Round had 12 of the 37 total digs for the Buffs against an aggressive Badgers squad that finished with 37 kills on 88 attack attempts.
 
The Buffs will finish out the Faulkner Invitational Saturday, September 6, against Freed-Hardeman University and Webber International College, starting at 11 a.m.