MOBILE, Ala. – The Milligan university women's volleyball squad achieved their first victory of the 2025 season on Saturday, downing the Pensacola Christian College (Fla.) Eagles in a five-set, back-and-forth thriller on the campus of The University of Mobile.

Following the triumphant effort, Milligan sits at 1-6 for the year.

Milligan 3, Pensacola Christian 2 (23-25, 26-24, 25-16, 20-25, 15-9)

Milligan began their day by trailing 9-4 through the opening 13 points of the contest. Then, however, the Buffaloes went on a 15-5 run to leap in front 19-16. The affair seesawed back in favor of PCC to end the set, as they took a 9-4 run to a 25-23 win to put MU behind.

The second set was another tough battle, after the Eagles raced ahead 8-2. Milligan put forth a 16-7 run to hold an 18-15 lead in the late stages. After getting to set point at 24-20, the Buffs allowed four straight points, before Erin Littleton tallied a kill and she teamed up with Courtney Nye on the following point to complete a 26-24 set victory. It was the Buffs' first set win of the year.

Set number three was the simplest set of the afternoon for the Buffaloes, as an early 8-2 advantage helped them coast to a 25-16 win in the tiebreaking set.

A tight tussle in the fourth set took place until the PCC squad scored four straight points after being tied 17-17. From that point forward, they controlled the set, winning 25-20. That set the two sides up for a winner-take-all fifth set.

With the score tied 7-7 in the final frame, the Buffaloes unleashed eight of the next 10 points to run away with a 15-9 triumph and a 3-2 match victory, which was their first of the 2025 season.

A pair of Milligan freshmen led the charge on offense, as Taylor Brinn held the top mark in kills with 15. Littleton provided 13 of her own with a .152 attacking clip. Riley Brinn sent eight swings to the hardwood, while both Bella Devoti and Addison Varney had six putaways. Varney had six kills on seven swings without an error to hit a dazzling .857. Faith Wilson (25) and Kyndl Hodge (21) teamed up for all but four of the Buffaloes' assists in the match.

R. Brinn's 23 digs were the most by a Buffalo in any match this season. She was followed by libero Grace Sanderson, who notched 17 pickups. T. Brinn also had 14 digs, helping her achieve Milligan's first double-double of 2025. Hodge added on 12 digs and Wilson provided six. Milligan's block was alive and well, tallying a total of 18 block assists and a solo block. Nye had six block assists in the win, which is the highest mark of the year for an MU blocker. Varney had three assists and a solo stuff, while Littleton also sent back three assisted blocks. T. Brinn, Devoti and Kira Ryan had two assists each.

The Buffs' next event on the calendar is the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament, hosted by Indiana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Sept. 5-6. Milligan begins the events with a 4 p.m. contest on Sept. 5 against WVU Tech (W.Va.) and a 6 p.m. battle the same evening against the hosting Warriors of Indiana Tech.