MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 29, 2016) â€" One of the most exciting volleyball matches of the season came in a nonconference tilt between Milligan College and UVa-Wise Thursday night. Led by 17 kills from senior Samantha Bruinius and 23 digs from senior Grace Ann Moorhouse, Milligan weathered a late rally from Wise to come away with a 3-1 (25-10, 27-25, 22-25, 25-23) win at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
 
Milligan (18-5, 8-1 AAC), which opened the match on a 14-2 run and eventually went ahead two sets to none, needed to close the match on an 11-5 run to secure the victory. Bruinius was one of the keys during that stretch, helping Milligan win for the sixth time in the last seven matches.
 
The match was indeed all about runs as each team made a pivotal run late in the second and third set. For Milligan, it was a 10-2 run featuring two kills from Bruinius and three kills from Marissa Langford which sent the Buffs to a 27-25 victory in game two. Milligan trailed 24-20 in that set but rallied with five straight points before Langford finished the game with one of her 14 kills of the match.
 
Wise (2-15) returned the favor in the third set, eliminating a 21-16 Milligan lead with a 9-1 run which made it two games to one. Milligan led most of the way through that set and looked poised to close out the match in three until the rally from Wise.
 
In the final set, Milligan needed a little rally of its own, and the Buffs delivered with four of the last five points to win it 25-23. Bruinius and Charlie Bateman combined for a block on the second-to-last point, and, fittingly, Bruinius finished the match with her 17th kill. Kellee Geren had the assist, one of 34 for her in the match.
 
Bruinius and Langford were the only two Buffs to reach double figures in the kill column, although eight Buffs registered at least one. Bateman (five) and Geren (four) were the next two, and Bateman also turned in eight blocks.
 
Moorhouse, whose 23 digs led all players, added two service aces, as did Jadin Foster, whose serve got the Buffs rolling in the first set with the first five points as part of their 14-2 match-opening run.
 
Foster also had 15 digs, and Bruinius had eight.
 
Milligan will hit the road again this weekend for matches against Point University and Montreat College. Matches will be played at Montreat in Montreat, North Carolina, on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Buffs will be back home on Tuesday, Oct. 4, against AAC foe Columbia College.