Milligan University

DAYTON, Tenn. (Oct. 10, 2015) â€" After coming up just short in a nail-biting fourth set against the second-place team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Bryan College, the Milligan College volleyball team also fell to University of the Cumberlands in the second match of the Bryan tri-match Saturday afternoon at Summers Gymnasium.
 
The Buffaloes fell to Bryan in the opening match in four sets 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22), and then lost to University of the Cumberlands 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22). With the two losses, Milligan, who began the day looking for its third straight conference win and sixth straight on the road, dropped to 11-10 overall and 7-4 in the AAC.
 
Milligan began the day a game and a half behind Bryan in the AAC standings, while the Lady Lions started the day half a game behind first-place Union College, whom the Buffs will face for the second time this season in early November. Additionally, University of the Cumberlands came into the weekend receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll.
 
In the opening match against Bryan, Samantha Bruinius (10 kills, 11 digs) led Milligan with her third straight double-double and fifth-straight double-digit dig effort, while Emilee Linkous and Marissa Langford added 10 and eight kills respectively, and junior Charlie Bateman tied her career high with six. Additionally, Jessica Davenport stayed consistent, dishing out 35 assists, while Grace Ann Moorhouse and Linkous led the Buff defense with 12 digs and four blocks, respectively.
 
In the second match of the day, Linkous again had 10 kills to pace the Buffs' attack while Bruinius played big with 14 digs, freshman Alyssa Rupert had nine digs, Langford had eight digs and six kills, and Davenport added a 25-assist effort. Alora Ricker and Linkous each finished with 1.5 blocks.
 
In the first match against Bryan, Milligan managed to win only the second set despite playing well and notching competitive scores in each of the final three. In the second frame, Milligan jumped out to a 9-4 advantage before the Lady Lions used a 7-0 run to come back and take the lead at 11-9.
 
The Buffs however, did not go down quietly, and took back the lead at 15-11 thanks to a 6-0 run of their own and three kills, two of which came from Linkous.
 
Bryan responded with a 4-1 mini-run to get within one at 16-15 before the Buffs exploded with a 7-0 stretch to give themselves some breathing room and widen the margin to eight at 23-15, all but putting the set away for Milligan. The Buffs would go on to win the set 25-18, and the deciding Milligan run featured another kill by Linkous and two assisted blocks by Linkous and Bailey Thomas, who had two early kills to begin the set for the Buffs.
 
In addition to Linkous' effort, Bruinius finished with four digs and two kills in the second set, while Moorhouse added three digs and Davenport got her team-leading 19th service ace and had eight assists for the second straight set.
 
In the third set, Bryan, already up 8-4, began to take the energy out of the Buffs thanks to a big 8-0 run that made it 16-4. Milligan tried to mount a comeback making it 20-13 and then getting to within five twice at 22-17 and 23-18, but was unable to get any closer and dropped the set 25-19 to go down two sets to one. The Buffs finished with 12 kills on their 19 points in the set, four of which came from Bateman and three from Linkous, while Davenport added 11 helpers and five digs, and Rupert chipped in with four digs. Rupert finished with seven digs in the match.
 
The Buffs started the fourth set strong with two kills by Ricker, a freshman who finished with three on the match to notch the most in her young career, and used an ace from Langford and another kill by Linkous to hold an early 4-2 lead. Yet another kill by Linkous capped off a 4-0 mini-run by Milligan to take a 12-8 advantage, but the Lady Lions got rolling and used a 7-3 run to tie it at 15 and set up a nail-biting ending to the final frame.
 
With the set tied at 18, back-to-back kills by Davenport and Langford gave Milligan a 20-18 lead, but Bryan answered with a 3-0 run to take the lead again and never looked back as the Buffs kept it close at 22-21 and 23-22, but could not get over the hump, falling in the final set 25-22 in a heartbreaker. Langford finished with three kills in the deciding set.
 
Despite battling University of the Cumberlands to a tie at 15-15 in the first set and only a two-point deficit in the second at 10-8, the Buffs never led against the Patriots until early in the third at 1-0 thanks to a kill by Linkous.
 
A kill from Jadin Foster gave Milligan the lead at 5-4 before a 9-4 Buff run featuring three more kills from Linkous and the second ace of the day by Langford made it 14-8. The Buffs, however, were unable to hold on and maintain the lead as a 7-5 Patriot run made it only a four-point margin at 19-15, and then a 6-1 run allowed University of the Cumberlands to get back in control of the set, leading 21-20.
 
Three straight points by the Patriots spread the lead to 24-21, and despite the second kill of the match from Ricker, put it away for good as the Buffs lost a close third frame 25-22.
 
Next up, the Buffs return home to the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse for a long six-match home stand beginning with Brenau University on Tuesday, Oct. 13, followed by five straight AAC matches. Tuesday's match against Brenau will be followed by the basketball teams' annual Moonlight Madness event.