MILLIGAN, Tenn. – Milligan University's women's volleyball team hosted its first matchup in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Friday night. The home-opening match against the Bulldogs of Union Commonwealth University also marked the first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest of the year for the Buffs. After taking the first set 25-22, the Buffs narrowly dropped the next three sets (22-25, 18-25, 22-25), losing by a final of 3-1. With the loss, the Buffs' losing streak has been extended to five, and their conference record now sits at 0-1.
In the first set, Union Commonwealth got the scoring started with three consecutive points. The Buffs responded with back-to-back kills from
Bella Devoti and
Erin Littleton, and the two sides exchanged points until the score was tied at 14 apiece. Freshman
Lacie Weatherman gave the Buffs momentum when she put a ball away to give MU a 16-15 advantage. A few points later, that momentum grew when the Buffs scored three in a row behind kills from Littleton and Devoti to take a 22-19 lead. After a kill by
Faith Wilson, Weatherman capped off the first-set victory (25-22) for Milligan.
Milligan took the lead early in set number two, 3-2, but Union Commonwealth answered with seven of the next 10 points to take a 9-5 lead. The Bulldogs continued to slowly grow that lead to 16-11, until the Buffs charged back with three consecutive points behind an
Ashton Blair kill to pull within two. The Buffs continued to battle and got within a point (19-18) when
Clare Clark put a ball away. Late in the set, both sides traded scoring runs, as three straight from the Bulldogs were answered by three straight from Milligan. Ultimately, UCU scored four of the final five points to take the second set 25-22.
In the third set, the Buffs got off to a sluggish start and quickly found themselves trailing 11-3. Wilson tried to give Milligan a jump start with two service aces, but it was to no avail, and Union Commonwealth maintained its lead at 19-11. The highlight of the set for MU came when they scored three straight points behind kills from Weatherman and Littleton to get within five at 19-14. However, Union Commonwealth put Milligan away by scoring six of the last 10 to take the third set, 25-18.
It was a much closer battle for Milligan in the fourth, as the two sides traded points behind kills from the freshman duo of Weatherman and Clark to make it 7-6 in the Bulldogs' favor. Union Commonwealth grew that lead to 14-8, but kills from Weatherman, Devoti and Blair sparked the crowd and got the Buffs within two at 14-12. The Buffs rode that momentum from the home crowd to trim the margin to a point (21-20) and force a Bulldog timeout. After the short break, Union Commonwealth was able to reset and score back-to-back points, and despite a late kill from Devoti, the Bulldogs were able to take the set (25-22) and the match (3-1).
Bella Devoti led the Milligan attack with 15 kills on 48 swings and five errors for an attacking percentage of .208.
Erin Littleton turned in the most efficient performance in the Buffs attack with 13 kills on 25 swings.
Lacie Weatherman continues to contribute to the Milligan offense and put away nine balls, while fellow freshman
Clare Clark was not far behind with eight kills.
Ashton Blair (3),
Taylor Brinn (2),
Aleah Pickett (2) and
Faith Wilson (1) rounded out the kills for Milligan.
Defensively, the Buffs' libero
Olivia Schoenstra tallied a team-best 17 digs, though Brinn was not far behind with 16. Wilson and
Kyndl Hodge each picked up nine digs of their own, while Devoti had six. Weatherman, Clark and
Rachel Bass each chipped in two, and Littleton rounded out the digs with one.
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Milligan (0-5, 0-1 AAC) will need to turn things around quickly, as the Buffs welcome conference opponent Johnson University to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse tomorrow, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m.
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