MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University women's volleyball squad was back at it on Friday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse for another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tilt against Spartanburg Methodist College (8-14, 3-6 AAC), their first such meeting all-time. The Buffaloes (4-17, 3-6 AAC) rallied after losing the first set and kept their composure at the end of the five set match for a 3-2 (13-25, 28-26, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11) victory.
Milligan got off to a sluggish start in the first set, giving up the first three points. The Buffs responded by scoring four of the next five points behind kills from
Addison Varney,
Kira Ryan, and
Shelby Miller to tie the score. From there, it was all Pioneers, as they went on an 8-0 run to take control. Despite a late 4-0 run from MU, SMC went on to take the set by a score of 25-13.
The second set started the same way as the first, with the first three points on the board put up by Spartanburg Methodist. Then, both sides traded points until the score was tied at nine apiece. The Buffs scored five of the next seven points behind a pair of kills from Miller, an ace from
Grace Sanderson, and a kill by
Erin Littleton. Milligan maintained a tight lead throughout the set, but Spartanburg came back to the score at 24 late. The score was tied again at 25 and 26, but MU ended up taking the set 28-26 courtesy of an ace from
Faith Wilson.
The Buffaloes did not allow the third set to start the same way as the previous two, as they raced in front to a 7-2 lead. Milligan held the lead for the rest of the set, as SMC made a push late to get within a point at 21-20, but kills from Miller and Varney powered Milligan to a 25-22 set victory and gave them a 2-1 lead overall.
Momentum did not stay in the Buffs' favor, as the Pioneers took control of the fourth set early, which led to a ten-point lead at 20-10. Despite Milligan's best attempt to make a comeback, the Pioneers took the set handily by a final score of 25-13, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
The Buffs regained the momentum in the fifth set behind a pair of kills from
Kira Ryan, and kills from
Bella Devoti, Miller, and Varney, while
Riley Brinn added an ace to give MU a 7-1 lead. The Pioneers crept their way back into the game scoring nine of the next thirteen points. Then it was a kill from Wilson on a pass tight to the net, followed by three straight kills from Miller, that closed the door giving MU the set and match (15-11, 3-2).
Three Milligan attackers finished with double-digit kills in Miller (22 kills), Devoti (14 kills), and Varney (10 kills). Ryan, Littleton, and Wilson added to the attack with six, three and two kills, respectively. Wilson dished out an even 50 assists in the triumph.
Defensively, Sanderson was all over the court, racking up 15 digs. Wilson was not far behind, with 13. Varney, Wilson and Miller combined to have four block assists to help guide the Buffaloes to victory.
It is now back-to-back wins inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse for Milligan for the first time in 2025, after they took down Pikeville 3-1 on Tuesday night. The Buffs will need all the home court advantage they can get tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 11, as they face off against a formidable foe in Columbia International University (S.C.) who is 7-1 in AAC play.
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