MILLIGAN COLLEGE (Aug. 26, 2016) â€" Milligan College's 9th annual Milligan Mountain Madness tournament got underway on Friday and the Buffaloes started their home tournament off with a pair of straight set wins. The day started with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-13) win over Talladega College and ended with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) victory over Midway University.

Milligan (4-2, 0-0 AAC) opened the tournament with a dominant 25-12 opening set over Talladega. The Tornadoes kept things close in the second, but the Buffaloes closed them out and ran away with a 25-13 third set.

Marissa Langford led the Buffaloes with eight kills off of 13 attacks, with freshman Julie Dockery following with six kills on 10 attacks. Kellee Geren continued her high level of play with 18 more assists. Sophomore Janae Rangel saw some playing time as the backup setter and contributed three assists late in the third.

The Buffaloes carried their momentum into their matchup against the Midway University Eagles. Milligan's offense dominated the first set with 14 kills from six different Buffaloes and had only four errors. The second set was an uphill battle with Milligan trailing most of the way. Starting at 17-18, two seniors stepped up and made some crucial plays.  A pair of kills from Samantha Bruinius and a pair of blocks from Charlie Bateman led the Buffaloes on an 8-1 run to close out the set. Milligan never looked back and won the third set 25-16, ending on a 12-4 run.

Eight different Buffaloes registered kills against the Eagles, led once again by Langford with 10 and Bruinius following with seven. Geren led all players with 27 assists, and had four kills of her own. Grace Ann Moorhouse led a solid defensive effort with 13 digs.

The Buffaloes continue in the Mountain Madness tournament against Middle Georgia State University at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by a 1 p.m. matchup against the University of Pikeville.