BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (Sept. 8, 2015) â€" Led by Marissa Langford's double-double, three Buffs entered into double figures in the kill column, but the Milligan College volleyball team ran out of gas Tuesday night on the road and fell to Union College in five sets (23-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-18, 15-13).
 
The loss set the Buffs back to 4-4 (1-1 Appalachian Athletic Conference) as they can now check three matches off their 11-match road swing. Union, selected by the coaches as the league's preseason favorite along with Bryan College, improved to 6-2 (1-0 AAC) in its home opener.
 
Langford tallied 13 kills, including a .390 attack rate, and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Emilee Linkous added 12 kills and seven blocks, while Samantha Bruinius had 10 kills and nine digs.
 
The latter duo put Milligan off to a great start in the opening set, recording kills on three straight points to begin a 9-1 run and help the Buffs overcome a 22-16 deficit to take the opening set 25-23.
 
Union put together a similar run at the end of set number two, winning seven of the last 10 to even the match at one apiece.
 
The Buffaloes looked to have the match well in hand by the end of the third set as they won handily, registering as many kills (15) as the Bulldogs did points. Bruinius recorded four of them while Linkous, Langford and Jenna Headrick had three apiece, and two others recorded one kill. For Headrick, it was part of a stat line that included six kills, five assisted blocks and two digs.
 
The tide once again turned in the fourth set when Union closed it out on a 10-4 run to level the match back at two sets apiece, and the Bulldogs looked to have control of the deciding set early on as they won the first three points and held a 7-4 lead.
 
Linkous sparked a rally by the Buffs, though, smacking a kill facing a 9-7 deficit before teaming with Headrick on the next point for a block that made it 9-9. Eight points later, Linkous and Headrick earned another block that made it 13-13, but the last two points went to Union for the victory.
 
Senior setter Jessica Davenport, the reigning AAC Setter of the Week, finished the night with 40 assists and five kills, on eight attack attempts. Grace Ann Moorhouse had 12 digs.
 
Milligan continues its month-long road trip with a weekend of conference action on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 11-12. The Buffs will face Reinhardt University and Point University over the two-day span. The next home match is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2.