MILLIGAN, Tenn. — On Tuesday evening, Milligan University's women's volleyball team hosted the Bluefield University Rams inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. In the two sides' second Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup of the season, the Buffaloes notched a 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 27-25) victory to earn back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
After falling behind 3-0 to start the match, Milligan reached a 11-8 deficit before rattling off a 9-2 run to lead 17-13. The Rams put up a massive fight in the set, eventually tying the score at 21-21, 22-22 and 24-24. The Buffaloes, though, would notch the last two points to earn a 26-24 win.
In the second set, the Buffs scored the first five points, leading 5-0. What looked like a simple set victory, early on, ended up turning completely. The Rams rattled off seven of the next 10 points to trail just 8-7. From there, Bluefield kept surging, eventually reaching a 16-14 lead. Then, though, a Milligan timeout changed the momentum entirely. A 7-0 run was tallied by the Buffaloes, giving them a 21-16 edge. The Buffs would take a 25-18 victory, and set themselves up for a potential sweep.
A tightly-contested third set never had a leader with more than a four-point lead, as the Buffs led at 12-8. The score would end up tied at 16-16, before Milligan looked to have grabbed a commanding lead at 23-20, just two points from a straight-sets win. However, they allowed five points in a row to Bluefield to drop the set, 25-23.
The fourth set began in unceremonious fashion for MU, as they trailed 5-1 through six points. They would then score the next four to tie the score, but then allow a 6-1 run to the Rams, making it 11-6 in the visitors' favor. Milligan trailed by as many as six points, at 18-12, and eventually were facing a Bluefield set point at a 24-22 deficit. They would score two straight points, knotting things at 24-24. After plating to a 25-25 tie, the Huffs scored the final two points on a kill and a BU attacking error to earn a 27-25 win and a 3-1 match triumph.
Bella Devoti was highly impressive in the win, leading the team with 14 kills on 40 swings. She had just three errors and tallied a .275 attacking clip.
Erin Littleton also finished in double figures, finishing 10 of her 23 swings with just three errors to hit .304 for the contest.
Ashton Blair (8),
Lacie Weatherman (6) and
Clare Clark (2) all had multiple terminations, as well.
Kyndl Hodge doled out 32 assists in the four-setter.
Taylor Brinn's 20 digs led the Buffs, while two other Milligan players finished with double digits. Blair had 18 of them, and
Rachel Bass supplied 12 of them.
Olivia Schoenstra added seven pickups and Hodge totaled four as the other two players with multiple digs. Littleton had one solo block and a pair of block assists to lead the way. Devoti added two block assists, with both Blair and
Aleah Pickett being responsible for one.
Milligan (3-14, 3-10 AAC) returns to the court on Thursday evening in Columbia, S.C. at the Columbia College Koalas at 5 p.m. The Buffaloes will be gunning for their third straight win, as they push for an AAC Tournament berth down the final stretch of the campaign.
