BLUEFIELD, Va. — On Tuesday evening, the Milligan University women's volleyball contingent hit the road to battle the Rams of Bluefield University. In a long, back-and-forth affair, the Buffaloes could not quite pull off the triumph in five sets, falling 3-2 (11-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 10-15).
Milligan simply was not ready to play in the first set, as they never got into a rhythm, scoring just 11 points and terminating only six swings. Bluefield cruised to an early 1-0 lead.
Credit is due to the Buffs for their resolve in the second set, as after a disappointing first set, they came out much more competitive in the second stanza. They trailed 15-14 in the middle of the set, but then scored 11 of the last 16 points in the set to notch a 25-20 triumph to knot the tally at one set apiece.
It was a much less competitive third set, for the majority, as Bluefield led by as many as eight points at 21-13. Then, however, the Buffs mounted a huge 10-3 run that saw them get to within one point at 24-23. Bluefield slammed the door there, snatching a 2-1 lead through a trio of periods.
For the fourth set, it was finally Milligan's turn to jump out to a substantial lead, as they worked their way out to a 19-11 edge over the Rams with a chance to send the fight to five sets. The Buffs did somewhat allow a comeback, as BU scored nine of the following 12 points to get to within a pair of points at 22-20, but MU scored three of the next four to win the set 25-21.
In the final frame, the Buffaloes never led, as they fell behind 2-0 but were able to tie the score at 3-3. Then, Bluefield scored the next three points and never let their lead go for the remainder of the contest, eventually beating the Buffs, 15-10 to close out Milligan's 3-2 loss.
Addison Varney had 10 kills on just 15 attempts to attack at .667 for the bout, a highly impressive showing.
Shelby Miller also had double-digit putaways, with 10 on 36 attacks. She had just three errors and hit at .194.
Bella Devoti supplied nine kills on 29 swings, while both
Riley Brinn and
Kira Ryan tacked on seven. Rounding out the list was
Erin Littleton, who terminated four of her 17 swings.
Faith Wilson dished out 39 assists in the defeat.
A total of 13 digs were tallied by
Grace Sanderson, who led the squad in that category. R. Brinn finished just behind her, with 12. Miller and Wilson dug up eight attacks apiece, while
Taylor Brinn had seven and
Olivia Schoenstra added six.
Kyndl Hodge also had three digs. Littleton provided an otherworldly seven block assists in the tilt, as Miller had three and both Devoti and Wilson assisted on a pair of rejections. Varney added a solo block.
The Buffaloes fall to 5-21, 4-9 AAC with the loss, and now look ahead to this Friday, Oct. 24 when they host the Columbia College (S.C.) Koalas inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse at 6:30 p.m., as they look to return to the win column after three straight negative results.
