MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 1, 2016) â€" Senior Samantha Bruinius provided the firepower, and the Milligan College volleyball team ran away with its seventh straight victory Thursday night, defeating Emory & Henry College 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20) at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
With the win, Milligan increased its home record to 7-0 this season while winning the last six matches in straight sets. It also helped the Buffs continue their hot start as they improved to 7-2 (1-0 AAC).
 
Bruinius finished the match with 17 kills and 13 digs, both team highs for the match, and freshman Kellee Geren finished with 32 assists. Marissa Langford registered 11 kills, and senior libero Grace Ann Moorhouse had 11 digs.
 
Milligan, similar to the season so far, jumped out to a hot start, going on a 10-2 run early in the opening game to set the tone for the decisive victory. Jadin Foster tallied a couple of service aces on back-to-back points during that stretch before back-to-back kills from Bruinius forced an E&H timeout with Milligan ahead, 11-4.
 
Conversely, the second set was not so much about any scoring runs until Milligan closed it out on a 5-1 spurt, featuring a kill by Bruinius, an ace by senior Charlie Bateman and a finishing kill by freshman Alyssa Gibson.
 
Milligan then closed out the third set in an even better way it closed out the second, going on an 11-2 run to end the match. The Buffs trailed 18-14 before stringing together four straight points to tie the third game back up then another four straight points go ahead 24-19. Fittingly, Bruinius earned the last kill with an assist from Geren.
 
Milligan tallied 39 total kills as a team in the three-set match, and Geren found 10 Buffs who registered at least one kill.
 
Milligan hits the road for its next four matches but returns home to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 13, for an Appalachian Athletic Conference meeting with Truett-McConnell College. The Buffs will then have only two more home matches in September.