MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University women's volleyball season got under way on Friday inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, where the Buffs suffered a straight-sets defeat in their opener against the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls and another in their latter tilt against the Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) Toppers.

With their first two contests in the books, the Buffaloes sit at 0-2.

Game 1 – Oregon Tech 3, Milligan 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-11)

In the opening set, Milligan fell behind the Hustlin' Owls 5-0, but were able to get to as close as one point at 18-17 before an OIT timeout that swung the momentum into the visitors' favor. They scored seven of the next nine points to take set one from the Buffs.

The second set was being controlled by the hosts, as Milligan held a 13-7 lead near the midpoint in the set. For the Owls, it was a run of 13-5 over the next 18 points that put them ahead of the Buffaloes 20-18 to turn the pressure back over to Milligan. The Buffaloes responded, momentarily, by going on a 5-1 run to lead 23-21. Oregon Tech scored the next four tallies to take a 25-23 set victory.

In the final set, it was all OIT from the first serve, as they led 10-1 through 11 points and coasted to an eventual 25-11 win to complete the sweep over the Buffs.

Freshman Erin Littleton led the squad in kills with nine in her first ever match, and Shelby Miller added eight putaways on 40 swings in the bout. Faith Wilson supplied 13 assists, while freshman Kyndl Hodge tacked on seven.

Defensively, libero Grace Sanderson had eight digs in the battle, while Wilson added the next-highest total with seven. Addison Varney and Miller teamed up for the Buffaloes' lone block of the matchup.

Game 2 – Blue Mountain Christian 3, Milligan 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20)

In the match's opening set, the Buffaloes had a 19-16 lead nearing their first set victory of the season, but were unable to close the door on Blue Mountain Christian, falling by a final of 25-22.

Set number two saw the Buffs fall down early and they trailed by as many as 11 at 20-9, but several BMC errors amounted to a slight comeback, as the Milligan side fell by a final of 25-19.

The third set was tightly contested until the Toppers grabbed a quartet of points straight after they trailed 16-15, making it 19-16, as they went on to win 25-20 over the Buffaloes to close out the contest.

Littleton again paced the Buffs in kills, notching 10 to reach double-digits for the first time in her young career. Miller had seven terminations in the second bout, while taking 35 swings. Bella Devoti notched five putaways on 20 attempts, and Kylie Haas had four kills on 11 tries. Wilson dished out 20 assists and Hodge added six of her own.

On defense, Miller led the way with 10 digs, while both Riley Brinn and Wilson had nine pickups apiece. Courtney Nye and Miller teamed up for a block in the bout, and Wilson added a solo stuff.

Day two of the Milligan Mountain Madness tourney is on the near horizon, as the Buffs play two more matches on Saturday against Shawnee State (Ohio) at 10 a.m. and Faulkner (Ala.) at 3 p.m.