MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Aug. 27, 2016) â€" Freshman Kellee Geren earned the 2016 Milligan College Mountain Madness volleyball tournament MVP and freshman Julie Dockery earned a spot on the all-tournament team after Milligan ran away with four decisive victories over the last two days. On Saturday, victories came in the form of straight set sweeps over Middle Georgia College (25-21, 25-17, 25-12) and University of Pikeville (25-13, 25-23, 25-21).
 
Milligan won its fifth straight match to improve to 6-2 this season, and the victories also improved the Buffs to 10-2 at the Mountain Madness tournament over the last three years.
 
"This was an awesome weekend and I'm excited that we not only won our tournament but more impressed that we were able to go 3-0 with every team we played," Head Coach Doneva Bays said. "I think it shows maturity and discipline in our team, and we had much improved efforts from our opening weekend."
 
Geren finished the tournament with 107 assists, second most among tournament players, and averaged 8.9 assists per set, taking the top spot in that category. Dockery attacked at a .464 clip with 16 kills and only three errors on 28 attempts. She also contributed two digs, three solo blocks and four assisted blocks on the weekend.
 
Other Buffs on the tournament leaderboards were Marissa Langford, who had the second highest hitting percentage and third highest total kills (34), and senior Samantha Bruinius, who was one spot behind Langford with 33 kills. Grace Ann Moorhouse averaged 3.8 digs per set (46 total) for the highest average on the defensive end, and Alyssa Rupert was fifth with an average of 3.0 digs per set (36 total).
 
Milligan saved its best effort for the very end of the tournament, coming away with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-21 against Pikeville. Milligan and Pikeville entered the final match as the only remaining unbeaten teams, and a nearly flawless effort in the opening game put Milligan on track for the runaway win. Geren earned 12 assists in that opening game, targeting mostly Langford and Bruinius for kills.
 
Milligan will continue the season on Tuesday, Aug. 30, with the Appalachian Athletic Conference opener versus Union College, last year's conference tournament champion. The Buffs will also be at home on Thursday, Sept. 1, for a nonconference battle against Emory & Henry.