BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – Milligan University's women's volleyball squad was on the road Friday evening for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup with the Union Commonwealth University Bulldogs. After taking the first set and battling until the end in the second, the Buffs dropped the final two sets to fall by a 3-1 final.
The first set opened with both sides trading points until a
Kyndl Hodge kill gave Milligan a 6-4 lead, but Union Commonwealth answered with a four-point run to take a two-point advantage. The Buffs worked their way back to tie the score at 17 before a 5-0 spurt, powered by a pair of
Clare Clark terminations and a
Taylor Brinn kill and ace, put them ahead 22-17. From there, Milligan took three of the next five points to claim the first set 25-19.
After grabbing the match advantage, Milligan was pushed to the brink in a tightly contested second set. Both sides traded points early until a 4-0 run behind kills from Brinn,
Bella Devoti and
Ashton Blair gave the Buffs a 10-7 advantage. Milligan maintained that lead all the way to 20-17. Down the stretch, three straight points from the Bulldogs following a timeout pulled them within one at 22-21 to make things interesting. UCU then took just its first lead of the set since 7-6 at 25-24. The Buffs tied the score after a Bulldog error, but Union Commonwealth eventually closed out a 29-27 win in set two.
The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the third, quickly jumping out to a 10-3 lead. The advantage ballooned to 16-4, and the Buffs were never able to mount a comeback as a late 6-0 run sealed a 25-7 set win for UCU.
Looking to turn things around,
Lacie Weatherman opened the fourth with a kill for the Buffs. However, the Bulldogs had an answer, taking a 7-3 lead after a pair of Milligan attacking errors. The teams exchanged points for a while, but a 5-0 run from UCU opened up an eight-point lead that Milligan could not overcome. The Bulldogs went on to take the set 25-14 and the match 3-1.
Brinn paced the Buffs offensively with 15 kills, while Devoti added nine and Clark chipped in six.
Erin Littleton and Blair finished with five kills apiece, and Hodge and Weatherman each added one. Hodge ran the offense with 37 assists, while
Rachel Bass and
Olivia Schoenstra each dished out two. Brinn, Bass, Schoenstra and Blair each recorded a service ace.
Schoenstra led the back row with 20 digs, followed by Blair with 16 and Brinn with 15, giving Brinn a double-double on the night. Bass and Hodge added 13 digs apiece, Littleton picked up two and Devoti had the remaining dig. Hodge also led MU at the net with two block assists, while Brinn, Littleton, Devoti and Clark each recorded one.
Milligan (4-17, 4-13 AAC) will play its two remaining AAC matches at home in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, starting with Tennessee Wesleyan University on Thursday, Oct. 29. First serve for that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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