MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Tuesday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, the Milligan University women's volleyball team did battle with another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent, this time from Bluefield University (Va.). After a stellar start, winning the opening stanza, the Buffaloes dropped three straight to fall 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 20-25, 22-25).
It was a highly encouraging opening set for Milligan, as they attacked at an efficient .286 clip. A total of 13 kills were converted by the Buffaloes on 28 swings. The Rams were leading the set 10-5 early, but the Buffs battled back to make it 14-14 before closing the set with an 11-7 edge over the final 18 points to win 25-21.
In the second set, the Buffaloes were simply outclassed. A 6-6 tie began the stanza, but the Rams rattled off a mammoth 15-3 run to go up 21-9 with little chance for an MU comeback. The set finished in a 25-15 Milligan loss.
To begin set number three, it was a continuation of the conclusion of the second set, as the Rams raced out to a 9-2 lead to begin the frame. From there, the Buffaloes clawed back, reaching a 20-19 deficit. Bluefield never relinquished the lead, though, as they ended up holding on by a score of 25-20.
The match's fourth frame was dominated by the Buffs in the early stages, as they leapt in front by a 10-4 score before Bluefield's first timeout was taken. The Rams would vault themselves back into contention in the set by scoring 10 of the following 15 points to trail 15-14. Milligan took their first timeout at that time to squash the momentum, but BU kept surging, storming out to a 23-20 lead. The Buffaloes didn't have enough firepower to make a comeback, falling 25-22 to lose the match 3-1.
Shelby Miller's 16 kills on 41 swings was a team-high, but she did have eight errors to attack at .195 for the match. Milligan made inroads in the middle, as they had 14 kills on 23 swings from
Addison Varney (eight kills) and
Erin Littleton (six kills).
Bella Devoti had eight putaways on 24 swings with a quartet of miscues.
Faith Wilson dished out 32 assists and
Kyndl Hodge stepped in for four of her own.
Miller had a double-double effort, picking up 15 digs in the bout, while no one else reached double figures.
Riley Brinn and
Grace Sanderson picked up eight apiece, with Wilson scooping up seven. Littleton had a solo stuff and a block assist in the loss, while Varney had a solo block and
Kira Ryan assisted Littleton once.
Milligan now has a 2-15 overall mark and a 1-4 win-loss record within the AAC. They will look to return to the win column on Oct. 3 at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. at 6:30 p.m.
