MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 27, 2018) â€" A match-high 32 digs from Alyssa Rupert helped lead the Milligan College volleyball team to a four-set victory (18-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-18) over Appalachian Athletic Conference member Montreat (6-13, 2-5) Thursday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. With the victory, the Buffaloes notched their second straight win and improved to 11-4 on the season and 5-2 in AAC play.

A slow start saw the Buffs drop the first set, but freshman Elise Gregory got things rolling in the second with seven kills en route to a 25-20 victory.

In the third, the game was tied at nine apiece before the Cavaliers opened up a 13-10 lead forcing head coach Doneva Bays to call a timeout. Milligan would respond out of the break with a 15 to one run that included 12 straight points to close out the set. Abby Falcone recorded four of her six service aces in the third frame.

The fourth and final set was all Milligan as they never trailed opening up as large of a lead as 11. Kellee Geren would find Falcone for the kill to finish off the victory for the Buffs.

BY THE NUMBERS
Geren controlled the offensive attack throughout the night as she was accredited with 42 assists and scooped up 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. Gregory put down a match-high 19 kills and Alyssa Gibson followed with 11. Falcone and Julie Dockery added eight and six kills respectively to round out the Buffs offense.

Alongside Rupert in the back row, Layla Grant tallied 12 digs to help Milligan hold Montreat to a .106 hitting percentage for the match.

Overall, the Buffs out-pointed the Cavaliers 61 to 54 and recorded twice as many service aces (8-4). Defensively, Milligan held every Montreat player under double figures in kills.
 
UP NEXT
Milligan will hit the road for two games Saturday as they face off against AAC foes Allen University and Columbia College. The Buffs next home game will be against Columbia International Friday, Oct. 5, at 6:30 p.m.

ðŸ"·: Robert Kell, Creative Story Visuals