KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Milligan University's women's volleyball program suffered back-to-back losses Saturday morning in Knoxville. The Buffaloes dropped three straight sets against Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent Johnson (Tenn.), and did the same against Point University (Ga.). 

Game 1 – Johnson 3, Milligan 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14)

In the first set, both sides went back-and-forth until a 10-5 run from Johnson put them ahead 22-14. Milligan made an effort late, scoring five of the next seven points, but an attack error from the Buffs gave the Lions the match point securing the first set, 25-19.  

Milligan's 2-0 lead to start the second set turned into a 10-8 advantage after a kill from Shelby Miller and an ace from Kyndl Hodge. Johnson regained the lead 20-18 after a 12-7 run and closed out the set 25-19 on back-to back kills.  
 

The third set was controlled by the Royals, as they started with a 17-6 scoring run. Four straight points to end the set gave them a 25-14 victory and secured the match.

Erin Littleton's seven kills led the team, while Bella Devoti and Shelby Miller added six and five, respectively. Grace Sanderson and Hodge each had 11 assists in the loss.

Sanderson totaled 15 digs, and Riley Brinn tacked on nine of her own. Eight pickups were tallied by Miller as well.  

Game 2 – Point 3, Milligan 0 (25-11, 25-21, 30-28)

In the first set, the Skyhawks got out to an early 10-3 lead, and never looked back, as they went on the secure the set 25-11. 

After two straight tallies from Point to start the second set, Littleton got Milligan on the board with a kill. Both sides traded scores with the score being knotted five times, up until Devoti's kill gave Milligan the lead at 20-18. However, Point responded with a 5-1 run and went on to grab the set by a final score of 25-21.  

The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the third set behind two kills from Addison Varney, an ace by Miller, and three straight kills from Devoti. Point slowly worked their way back into the set, eventually tying the score at 20. Milligan had their first set point of the day with a 26-25 lead, but were unable to capitalize and ended up trading points with the opposition before falling 30-28 in the final set of the day.   

Devoti had an impressive performance in the battle with the Skyhawks, tallying 9 kills on 31 swings with just five errors. Varney had another good showing, producing five putaways on 13 tries with one miscue. Miller had four kills on twenty-five attempts and Riley Brinn added three on nine swings. Faith Wilson had 23 of the team's 24 assists in the loss. 

Wilson's 11 digs led the squad. The next-most came from Sanderson and Miller with ten. R. Brinn, Hodge and Olivia Schoenstra had four each.

Milligan moves to 1-13 on the season, and have yet to win an AAC bout sitting at 0-2. The Buffs eleven-game road trip will come to an end with their return to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Friday, Sept. 26, for an AAC matchup against Bryan (Tenn.) at 6:30 p.m.