MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Friday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, the Milligan University women's volleyball team did battle with another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent, this time it was the Bulldogs of Union Commonwealth (Ky.) that traveled to East Tennessee. The Halloween matchup marked Senior Night for the Buffs. After dropping the first two sets, Milligan captured the third, but were unable to complete the comeback and fell 3-1 (21-25, 17-25, 25-22, 17-25).
The Bulldogs took an early advantage in the first, as they opened 6-2 scoring run. The Buffs responded with 5-0 run of their own behind an
Addison Varney kill and
Riley Brinn ace. From there, the scoring was back and forth until UC scored five straight points to take a 23-20 lead. Despite a late kill from the Buffs'
Taylor Brinn, the Bulldogs went on to take the first set by a score of 25-21.
In the second set, the Bulldogs once again secured the lead early by scoring five of the first eight points. They slowly extended their lead, eventually growing it to as many as 10 at 23-13. The Buffs battled with a trio of kills from
Bella Devoti, but it was too little too late and the Bulldogs took the second set 25-17 and extended their lead to 2-0.
To begin set number three, it was a continuation of the conclusion of the second set, as the Bulldogs raced out to a 5-1 edge. Their lead extended over the next stretch to 19-12. From there, the Buffaloes showed resiliency by coming back and tying the score at 20. Milligan's momentum continued, as they scored five of the next seven points behind a
Shelby Miller led attack. Miller totaled five kills in the set on the way to the Buffs' 25-22 victory.
The match's fourth frame started with a Miller kill, helping lead the Buffs to a 4-1 advantage. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead 6-4. Following the run, both teams exchanged points, until Union Commonwealth went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 15-7 lead. Despite five more kills from Miller and a pair of kills from
Kira Ryan, the Bulldogs would win the set (25-17) and match (3-1).
Shelby Miller's 11 kills on 30 swings was a team-high, but she did have eight errors to attack at .133 for the match. Milligan had 10 kills on 35 swings from
Bella Devoti, and
Kira Ryan terminated nine of her 27 swings.
Addison Varney had five putaways and
Courtney Nye added four.
Faith Wilson dished out 35 assists and
Grace Sanderson stepped in for three of her own.
Sanderson was an anchor defensively, picking up a game-high 28 digs, while no one else reached double figures.
Riley Brinn and
Faith Wilson picked up eight and seven, with
Taylor Brinn scooping up seven, as well. Miller and Varney each had two solo stuffs. Ryan added two block assists, with Varney and
Courtney Nye picking up one apiece
Milligan now has a 6-23 overall mark and a 5-11 win-loss record within the AAC. They will look to return to the win column on Saturday with a pair of home matchups against Johnson (AAC) and Carolina (N.C.) (non-conference) at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
