MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Aug. 30, 2016) â€" Marissa Langford tallied 14 kills and the Milligan College volleyball team played its best on the biggest points of the match, sweeping Union College 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-22) in the teams' Appalachian Athletic Conference opener.

It was an early-season battle for first place as Milligan 7-2 (1-0 AAC) and Union 6-2 (0-1 AAC) were last year's AAC tournament finalists and came into 2016 as the top two preseason conference favorites.

Union, who took last year's tournament title in three sets, pushed Milligan in all three sets Tuesday, but Milligan was up to the challenge in each. In the first, Union trailed 24-19 before stringing together five straight points to even it up at 24-24. Two points later, setter Kellee Geren put the Buffs on top for good with a well-placed kill that made it 26-25. It helped Milligan overcome a slow start in which the Buffs were down 5-1.

In set number two, Milligan used an early run of eight straight points to make it 13-2, and Langford came to life with nine kills in the middle set alone. Langford had kills on three consecutive points during the 8-0 run, and she closed the set with kills on three of Milligan's last four points of the second set.

The end of the third set was much the same as the end of the first two. After Milligan led by as many as six midway through the set, Union rallied back to tie it at 21-21. It was then an assisted block by Charlie Bateman and Geren, a solo block by Bateman, a Union error, and an emphatic kill by senior Samantha Bruinius that gave Milligan the victory.

Langford's 14 kills led all attackers, and she was followed by Bailey Thomas (nine), Bruinius (five), and Bateman and Julie Dockery (four apiece). Geren, the reigning AAC setter of the week, finished with 32 assists, 13 digs and two service aces.

Grace Ann Moorhouse, the reigning AAC defensive player of the week, led the defensive effort with 18 digs and an ace.

Milligan will be back home on Thursday, Sept. 1, for a nonconference match against Emory & Henry College. Match is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. After that, the Buffs will be on the road until Tuesday, Sept. 13.