ATHENS, Tenn. — Milligan University's women's volleyball team traveled to Athens, Tenn. for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest against the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan on Tuesday night. Despite a tightly contested first set, the Buffs suffered a three-set loss (25-20, 25-14, 25-21) giving the Lady Buffs their 13th conference loss of the campaign. 

After taking an early lead in the opening set of the contest behind an Erin Littleton kill and Faith Wilson ace, the Buffs were the victims of a 4-0 scoring run from the Bulldogs that eventually led them to an 11-7 lead. Milligan battled back with a pair of kills from Shelby Miller and Littleton, but they were unable to tie or take the lead for the rest of the set. Tennessee Wesleyan extended their lead to five at 18-13 and maintained that advantage throughout the remainder of the first set. Despite two timeouts and late pressure from the Buffs they would go on to drop the set 25-20.

The Bulldogs continued their momentum into the second set by quickly taking a 3-0 lead. From there, TMU led for almost the entire stanza. MU tied the score at five when Bella Devoti put a ball down, followed by an ace from Courtney Nye. The Bulldogs largest lead came at 23-12 and they eventually took the set by a score of 25-14 to give them a 2-0 lead in the match.  

The final set started with the Bulldogs scoring the first seven points of the set. This forced the Buffs to take a timeout. Following the break in action, the Buffs scored four of the next five points behind Bulldog miscues and a Miller kill. Over the next several points TWU opened a nine-point lead at 19-10. Milligan would score eight of the next nine points, but were unable to complete the comeback, as they lost the set (25-21) and match (3-0).

Miller was the most prolific attacker for the Buffaloes all match, notching 10 kills on the night with just one error on 33 attacks. Littleton was the most efficient attacker with five kills on nine swings for a .556 attacking percentage. Devoti picked up four kills and Addison Varney added three, while Kira Ryan, Wilson, and Nye had one, respectively. Wilson dished out all but one of the Milligan assists, with 21. Kyndl Hodge was responsible for the other setup.

Riley Brinn's 12 digs led the way for Milligan, with only one other Buff landing in double digits in pickups. Faith Wilson had 10 in the bout, while Grace Sanderson added eight of her own. Ryan led the team in block assists with two and R. Brinn, Littleton, Miller and Nye had one apiece.  

Milligan now sits at 7-25, 5-13 AAC for the year and are tied for the final spot in the AAC Tournament qualifiers list with just one conference battle left on the schedule. Their deciding matchup will be on the road in Dayton, Tenn. on Thursday, Nov. 6 against the Bryan College Lions (2-33, 1-17 AAC).