MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Thursday evening, the Milligan University women's volleyball squad took on the Truett McConnell University Bears in a contest that was moved up two days due to forecasted heavy wind and rain along the Bears' route back home on Saturday. In a match that saw the Buffaloes concoct their most effective set of the entire season, they dropped the final three frames to fall 3-1 (25-20, 15-25, 19-25, 22-25).
The opening set was played about as perfectly as possible for the Buffs, who started strong and led from the 2-1 mark all the way until the end. That included a 9-3 stretch after holding a 13-12 lead, which made it 22-15 and basically sealed the triumph. Among the impressive stats in the set during Milligan's 25-20 win was a total of 17 kills on just 28 attempts, equaling a .464 hitting percentage, which is a season-best in a single set in both kills and attacking percentage.
Following that set, the script flipped, as Milligan's attacking percentage in the second set fell to just -.129. They more than doubled their errors, with nine of them in the frame. They fell behind early and eventually dropped the final four points of the set to lose 25-15.
Better effort came in the third set for the Buffaloes, as they attacked more effectively. However, an early deficit proved to be too much to recover from. A 6-2 edge for TMU through the opening eight points would be cut to a three-point Buffaloes deficit as late as 14-11, but from there it was Truett McConnell who stretched that lead back out to as many as seven and finally won the set by six points at 25-19.
A tight final frame would follow, as Milligan started in a hole, 7-3. Then, though, five of the next six points went in the Buffaloes' favor to knot the score at 8-8. The two squads traded points all the way until Truett McConnell took a two-point lead at 21-19. The Buffaloes would tie the score back up at 21-21, but the Bears scored four of the final five to topple the Buffaloes, 25-22. The loss in the fourth set clinched a 3-1 loss for the Buffs.
Offensively, the Buffaloes had a trio of players finish with double-digit kills.
Ashton Blair led the way with 14 kills on 33 attempts and attacked at .212.
Bella Devoti was next with 12 putaways, while
Erin Littleton converted 10 of her 24 swings.
Clare Clark added five kills on 14 tries and sported a .286 clip, and
Lacie Weatherman totaled four kills in the loss. A team-high 38 assists were dealt by
Kyndl Hodge, while
Rachel Bass added three and
Olivia Schoenstra had one.
From a defensive standpoint, Bass (12) and Hodge (10) led the way in digs as the two players with 10 or more pickups.
Taylor Brinn added nine of her own, followed by eight from Schoenstra and six from
Morgan Lambert. Blair totaled four, and Devoti and Littleton tallied three each. Four total blocks were racked up by Milligan in the tilt, as Littleton had one solo block and assisted on one more. Devoti and Clark each managed two block assists, and Hodge added the remaining one.
Milligan (1-14, 1-10 AAC) does not have to wait long for an opportunity to get back in the win column, as they host the Montreat College Cavaliers on the evening of Friday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
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