CLEVELAND, Ga. — Milligan University women's volleyball's second match day of the season took place at the crack of dawn on Saturday, as the Buffs matched up with the No. 2 seed from Friday's pool play action, the Brewton-Parker Christian Barons. A strong BPC squad would prove to be too much for the Lady Buffs to handle in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-10) loss.
The opening set of the tilt saw Brewton-Parker storm out to a 5-1 advantage out of the gate, but the Buffaloes stayed with them from there, as they played to a 14-11 deficit. Then, however, eight points in a row by the Barons made it 22-11. That run effectively ended any hope for Milligan in the set, as they eventually fell 25-13.
In set number two, Milligan and BPC battled to an even 7-7 score through 14 points, but again it was a scoring run that put the Buffs behind. Five straight points went to the Barons, giving them a five-point 12-7 lead, which from that point on would not drop below four points. By the end of the set, they had ballooned the advantage to eight points, at 25-17.
A 6-0 start for the Barons in set number three put Milligan in trouble immediately. At no point did they get closer than four points after that, eventually dropping 13 of the final 18 points en route to a 25-10 loss to end the 3-0 loss.
Bella Devoti led the way offensively for the Buffs with six kills on 20 swings, while committing five errors.
Erin Littleton's three kills were second most on the team, and
Lacie Weatherman provided a pair of kills. The team had 13 total in the contest.
Kyndl Hodge dealt seven assists, while
Faith Wilson passed out four.
Olivia Schoenstra's 11 digs paced the Lady Buffs, as the next-highest total was four from
Taylor Brinn.
Ashton Blair supplied three, and a host of Buffs had two (
Rachel Bass, Hodge, Littleton, Weatherman, Devoti, Wilson). Milligan's block was fairly effective in the loss, though, as 10 total blocks were tallied, including five from Littleton.
Following the conclusion of the Labor Day Bear Invitational, Milligan (0-4) will prepare for their first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup on Friday, Sept. 11 against the Union Commonwealth University (Ky.) Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
