ATHENS, Tenn. — On Saturday morning, the Milligan University women's volleyball squad took part in another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) bout, this time in Athens, Tenn. against the Tennessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs. The Lady Buffs suffered a sweep at the hands of the Bulldogs, pushing their losing streak to eight games to begin the campaign.
In the first set, the Buffs rallied for the opening three points on kills, displaying some attacking prowess early. From there, however, the Bulldogs put together a 12-3 run to lead 12-6. The Buffaloes would get the score back to within two points at 15-13, but another big 10-3 run over the final 13 resulted in a 25-16 loss to open the contest.
Milligan's second set was their most competitive of the day, as they led 7-6 and fought hard to keep the score within one point each way up until TWU extended their edge to 18-15. The Buffs were able to tie the score back up at 22-22, before the Bulldogs ended the bout with three straight points.
The effort of MU in the second set carried over into the start of the third set, as the score was knotted up at 9-9. A brutal stretch would ensue, though, as TWU scored 16 of the last 20 points to beat the Buffs 25-13 and end the match.
Offensively,
Bella Devoti led the way with nine kills on 35 swings with seven errors. Freshman
Lacie Weatherman's five putaways on 23 swings came with only a pair of miscues.
Erin Littleton and
Aleah Pickett each had two kills on a combined 14 attempts.
Kyndl Hodge passed out 17 assists, while
Olivia Schoenstra dished out the other two.
Hodge (11) and Schoenstra (10) supplied double-digit digs for the team.
Ashton Blair added seven, and
Rachel Bass (4),
Taylor Brinn (3), Devoti (2) and Pickett (2) all had multiple. Milligan had five total blocks, as Weatherman led the way with a solo and two assists. Littleton had three block assists, Hodge had two and Blair had the other one.
Milligan (0-8, 0-4 AAC) remains away from home for a matchup at Bluefield University in Bluefield, Va. on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m., still looking for their first victory of the season.
