CLEVELAND, Ga. – Milligan University's women's volleyball season got under way on Friday at the Labor Day Bear Invitational, hosted by Truett McConnell University. The Buffaloes started their campaign with a trio of losses, falling 3-1 to Brenau, 3-0 to Baptist University of Florida and 3-0 to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
With their first three contests in the books, the Buffaloes sit at 0-3.
Game 1 – Brenau 3, Milligan 1 (25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20)
Milligan started their season with an early deficit against the Golden Tigers of Brenau, giving up nine of the first 11 points to trail 9-2. The Buffs would cut that down to just 10-7 with five of the next six points, but that ended up ballooning back to a six point difference late in the set at 21-15. However, an 8-3 scoring run for MU made it 24-23, before Brenau slammed the door shut, winning 25-23.
After a strong start to the second set, where the Buffaloes notched the first three points, the Golden Tigers rattled off a 17-4 run to lead 17-7. Milligan then scored five points in a row to cut the BU lead to five, but Brenau then extended the lead back to 10 points at 21-11 and eventually dispatched the Buffs by a score of 25-18.
The third set was tight through the first 20 points, as the two squads were knotted at 10. The Golden Tigers would score seven of the next nine points to take a 17-12 lead, before the Buffaloes battled back to tie the score at 21-21. Four of the last six points, including the final two, belonged to Milligan. That gave the Lady Buffs a 25-23 win for their first set triumph in 2026.
A tight fourth set saw Brenau hold a lead of three points at 11-8, before the Buffaloes were able to eventually tie the score back up at 15-15. Then, after trading four points apiece, BU pulled away to score six of the final seven points and topple the Buffs by a final of 25-20. That concluded the match with a 3-1 score in Brenau's favor.
Freshman
Ashton Blair notched 10 kills in her Milligan debut, while committing just three errors on her 34 swings to hit .206 for the contest.
Bella Devoti also had 10 kills, albeit on a less efficient 36 swings with seven errors.
Erin Littleton terminated nine of her 20 swings with a trio of miscues, finishing at a .300 clip out of the middle.
Aleah Pickett was efficient in limited opportunities as a middle, as well, finishing on four of her eight attempts with just a single error to hit .375.
Faith Wilson (17) and
Kyndl Hodge (16) almost evenly split the 33 assists that they racked up.
Defensively, the Buffs' libero
Olivia Schoenstra tallied a team-best 19 digs as the lone player in double figures in that category.
Taylor Brinn managed nine of her own, while Wilson, (7),
Rachel Bass (6) and Blair (5), also had five or more pickups. The team totaled four blocks in the contest.
Game 2 – Baptist University of Florida 3, Milligan 0 (25-11, 25-13, 26-24)
Milligan struggled mightily in the opening set, as Baptist University of Florida gradually built their advantage all the way to a 14-point difference at the conclusion of the set, 25-11.
After leading the second set 4-0 to start, the Buffaloes closed the set with a 25-9 stretch in the Lady Eagles' favor, handing Milligan a 25-13 loss.
The Lady Buffs' effort in the third set was much stronger, as neither side had a lead of larger than four points all the way to the end of the set, when BUF outlasted Milligan with a 26-24 win to clinch the straight-sets sweep.
The top attacker for MU in game two was Devoti, who totaled seven kills on 23 tries with four errors. Littleton and Blair each had six putaways, but with a combined eight errors to their names.
Morgan Lambert notched a quartet of kills, while
Lacie Weatherman added three and
Taylor Brinn also had multiple kills, with two. Wilson (13) and Hodge (8) tallied all but four of the assists, with four other players managing one each.
Brinn's 15 digs, followed by Schoenstra's 14 paced the squad in the second tilt of the day, while Hodge added on six of her own. Blair, Wilson and Bass picked up four attacks apiece as the other players on the roster with multiple digs. The squad managed one block in the loss.
Game 3 – Saint Mary-of-the-Woods 3, Milligan 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-17)
When Milligan returned to the court at 6 p.m., they began with a competitive first 11 points against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, trailing just 6-5. From there, however, the train went off the tracks. The Pomeroys scored 15 of the following 19 points to leap out to a 21-9 lead. Eventually, the set concluded in a 25-14 loss for the Lady Buffs.
Milligan and SMWC battled in the second set to a 15-15 tie through 30 points. However, the Pomeroys would rattle off a 10-1 run to end the set in their favor, 25-16.
The third set was another close bout for the first 16 points, as it was tied 8-8, but six straight points from SMWC gave them a commanding 14-8 lead. Milligan took the next four points to get back within two, before eventually reaching a one-point deficit at 17-16. But again, from that point on, the Pomeroys rallied for eight of the final nine points to win 25-17 and end Milligan's day at 0-3.
Blair had a nine-kill performance in the loss, tallying those terminations across 32 swings with just three errors. Littleton finished four of her 15 swings, while Devoti supplied three kills on 23.
Clare Clark and Lambert also had multiple putaways, with two apiece. Wilson had 10 assists to lead the way for MU, followed by four from Hodge, and two each from the trio of Bass, Brinn and Schoenstra.
The squad saw Brinn start at libero in the final match of the day, and she played the first two sets in that position to rack up 14 digs. Schoenstra added nine and played libero in the third set. Bass and Wilson picked up six digs, while Hodge added four and Blair and Devoti supplied two each. The team had a pair of blocks in the final matchup of the day.
Day two will see the Buffaloes play bright and early at 8 a.m. against the Brewton-Parker Christian University (Ga.) Barons, and with a win, Milligan will play again at 2 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. With a loss, the Buffs' weekend in Georgia will be over.
