BLUEFIELD, Va. (Sept. 22, 2015) â€" Jessica Davenport reached 3,000 career assists, and the Milligan College volleyball team played its best on the big points to come away with a nail-biting five-set victory (23-25, 26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 16-14) over Bluefield College Tuesday night on the road.
 
Davenport, a senior setter from Cleveland, Tennessee, tallied a career high 57 assists and reached the 3,000-assist mark at the end of the third set. She was one of three Buffs to notch a new career high as Marissa Langford (20) and Emilee Linkous (16) recorded career highs in kills.
 
Milligan (7-6, 4-2 Appalachian Athletic Conference) denied Bluefield (3-6, 1-5 AAC) a game point in a victorious second game and a match point in a victorious fifth game on the way to its third straight league win. The Buffaloes also moved to third place in AAC standings.
 
Davenport was the key piece in the middle of it all, assisting on all 20 Langford kills and 15 of the 16 by Linkous. The Buffs faced match point at 14-13 in the fifth set before Davenport fed Langford for one of the biggest kills of the night, and it was déjà vu on the very next point as Davenport again fed Langford for a big kill to make it 15-14.
 
Davenport then teamed with Savannah Benton for a block assist on the final point to give the Buffs the victory.
 
Davenport was a part of each of the last four Milligan points, recording an assist to Langford at 12-13, 13-14 and 14-14, before the block with Benton made it 16-14. She had eight assists while Langford had four kills in the last game.
 
Milligan's final run of the last three points helped put an end to a 7-3 run the Rams used to climb back in the middle of the fifth set.
 
Milligan put together another great rally in the second game when, on the brink of trailing two games to none, Langford put down an emphatic kill, Davenport the assist, to erase a 24-23 Bluefield lead. Two points later, the Buffs won the second set 26-24 to draw even, and they used that momentum to win nine of the next 12 points on the way to a third-set triumph.
 
Samantha Bruinius was an important part of the third game, recording three of her 12 kills in the middle set. Her third kill sealed it 25-22 after Bluefield looked to be building the momentum back with three straight points late in the game.
 
Bruinius, who has already recorded career highs in kills twice this season, was one of three Buffs with double figures in digs. Grace Ann Moorhouse chipped in with 17 while Davenport had 11.
 
Bailey Thomas had eight kills, including one that put the Buffs up 2-0 in the final set.
 
For Langford, the 20 kills were three more than her previous career high which she reached twice last season. Linkous previously had as many as 14. Tuesday night, the two hitters attacked at rates of .368 and .520, respectively.
 
Davenport recorded over 1,100 assists in both her sophomore and junior seasons and entered her senior season with 2,544. She is now up to 3,020 for her career. Chelsea Spivey owns the Milligan assists record for a career with 4,279.
 
Milligan will continue its current month-long road trip with an AAC matchup at Truett-McConnell College on Friday, Sept. 25. It will be first of the last three road matches before returning to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Friday, Oct. 2.