MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Milligan University women's volleyball program hosted the Bryan College (Tenn.) Lions on Friday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. After a hard-fought Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle, the Buffs closed out the Lions in the fifth set to secure a 3-2 (23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 15-9) victory for their first win of the AAC slate.

In the first set of the night, Milligan traded points with Bryan early, but a 5-1 run from the Lions gave them a 15-10 lead. The Buffs responded by scoring ten of the next 14 points behind kills from Shelby Miller and Bella Devoti. The Lions would not go away, however, as they went on to score three straight points late to secure the set by a final of 25-23.

The Buffs turned the momentum in the second set, getting out to a 6-1 lead behind a pair of kills from Devoti, while Erin Littleton and Miller each added a termination. Milligan continued to extend the lead throughout the set, culminating in their largest lead of 24-12. Kira Ryan capped off the set with an ace, giving MU a 25-16 edge in the set and tying the score at 1-1.

In the third set the Buffs again took control early jumping out to an 8-1 lead behind three kills from Miller. Bryan answered with an 8-4 run, but Milligan scored seven of the last eight points of the set behind a pair of kills from Miller, as well as a pair of aces from Miller, to secure the third set 25-17 and take the lead 2-1.

The fourth set started with the teams going back and forth early until an 11-2 run from Bryan gave them a commanding lead, 23-15. The Buffs answered with a 4-1 run, but it would not be enough as Bryan scored the final point to take the fourth set 25-19.

In the deciding set, the Lions held a one-point lead early, but back-to-back kills from Addison Varney gave the Buffs a 5-3 edge. Following the kills, Bryan scored four straight, but kills from Varney and Devoti regained the lead for Milligan at 8-7. The rest of the set was all MU, as they scored six straight points behind an ace from Riley Brinn and kills by Devoti and Littleton. They took the fifth set, 15-9, and the match by a tally of 3-2.

Devoti led the way for the Buffs with 14 kills and Miller also reached double-digits with 12. Varney and Ryan added seven apiece, and Littleton put away six swings. Faith Wilson tallied 36 out of the team's 40 assists.

Defensively, Grace Sanderson, Shelby Miller, and Riley Brinn added 20, 13, and 10 digs, respectively. Wilson picked up eight, Kyndl Hodge tallied seven and Devoti totaled five. The block proved to be the difference in the contest, as the team combined for 16 block assists and five solo stuffs in the triumph. Varney had one solo block and five assists, while Ryan added two solos and three assisted blocks. Littleton and Devoti both had a single solo and three rejection assists, and Miller added a pair of helpers.

The Buffs will be back in action tomorrow morning, Sept. 26, looking for back-to-back AAC wins when they host the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse at 11 a.m.