MONTREAT, N.C. (Aug. 20, 2016) â€" The fall 2016 athletics season started on Saturday for Milligan College, and the Milligan volleyball team got things under way with a win and a loss on the campus of Montreat College. The Buffaloes lost the first match of the day 3-0 (25-21, 15-9, 25-20) to Life University before winning the second match 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-14, 25-20) against Shawnee State.
 
Milligan was led on the day by a strong performance from freshman Kellee Geren who had 34 assists against Shawnee State. Geren added a couple of kills, two service aces and eight digs. She targeted mostly seniors Charlie Bateman and Samantha Bruinius as well as freshman Alyssa Gibson who all had nine kills apiece. Bateman's nine kills came alongside only two attack errors for a hitting percentage of .389.
 
Bruinius was also one of the keys on the defensive side with 16 digs while Grace Ann Moorhouse (25), Alyssa Rupert (16) and Jadin Foster (12) all reached double figures in the dig category.
 
Milligan used an early run of 9-1 in the first set of the Shawnee State match to create come separation at 14-5. After Shawnee battled back to even the match at a game apiece, it was a nearly identical run in the third set that pushed Milligan out on top for good. Leading 5-4, Milligan used a 9-2 run to go up 14-6, and the Buffaloes never looked back.   
 
Milligan will continue the season on Sunday, Aug. 21, with a match against Keiser University back at Montreat. The Buffs are then home on Monday, Aug. 22, for a 4 p.m. match against Point Park University and will host their annual Mountain Madness tournament on Friday-Saturday, Aug. 26-27.