MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Oct. 19, 2015) â€" It was a battle for third place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, and the Milligan College volleyball team rose to the occasion, sweeping Columbia College 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) Monday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
Milligan (14-10, 9-4 AAC) and Columbia (11-9, 8-5 AAC) entered the contest knotted at 8-4 and in third place in the AAC, three games out of first. Backed by Marissa Langford's 10-kill, errorless effort, Milligan moved to within two and a half of first place with its fourth straight home victory. The Buffaloes also snapped Columbia's six-match winning streak.
 
"We are happy to start the week with a win," Head Coach Doneva Bays said, "and I was proud of the way the team responded to goal setting. We came out flat the first two sets but finished on a strong note both times. Going into the third set our goal was to get to seven points first. It was exciting that they met that goal and pushed through to 25 points."
 
The Buffs faced deficits of 7-4 in each of the first two sets but pushed through with runs of their own to claw back. In the first, they won three straight points to get it back to 7-7. In the second, they took control with a 6-0 run beginning at the same point.
 
Langford attacked at a .385 percentage for the match and came through on some of the biggest points of the match. In the opening set, she tallied kills to give Milligan leads of 22-21 and 23-22, setting up a finish where the Buffs won three of the last four points and recorded kills on five of their last six points.
 
Langford again had two kills on big points late in the second set, putting them down on back-to-back points which gave the Buffs a 22-20 lead. The two kills were part of a 5-0 Milligan run that gave the Buffs control of the middle set at 24-20. Despite Columbia attempting to climb back with two straight points, Charlie Bateman ended one of the longest points of the set, and the set itself, with a kill following a dig from a diving Grace Ann Moorhouse.
 
With a two games to none lead, the Buffs stormed out of the gates in game three, accomplishing the goal set out by Bays by winning seven of the first eight points. Milligan put it on cruise control from there and ended the match on a 5-2 run. Jenna Headrick and Langford highlighted it with kills and Jadin Foster recorded one of her three service aces during that stretch.
 
Langford's 10 kills led all attackers while eight other Buffs entered into the kill column. Samantha Bruinius was next with seven kills while Davenport, who earned 25 assists, joined Emilee Linkous and Bateman with three kills.
 
Davenport added 11 digs for a double-double, and Moorhouse led all players with 13 digs.
 
Milligan will be at home again on Tuesday, Oct. 20, for a 6:30 p.m. meeting with Bluefield College (10-12, 6-9 AAC). The Buffs defeated the Lady Rams in five sets when they met at Bluefield earlier this season.