The Milligan volleyball team earned their fourth straight win after defeating Truett McConnell University, Friday Oct. 11. With this victory, the lady Buffaloes remain undefeated for the month of October.
Senior Kellee Geren had 35 assists and 13 digs, earning her 11th double-double this season. Junior Carley Gregory lead the Buffs with 10 kills, followed by junior Julia Codispoti who had nine. Sophomore Cameron McConnell led in digs, with a total of 21, followed by sophomore Layla Grant with 17.
Milligan took the win in three sets Friday night at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Milligan won the first set 25-18, with Truett McConnell never taking the lead. Milligan also outshone the Truett McConnell Bears in kills with a hitting percentage of .303 compared to Truett’s .000.
The second set was similar to the first, with Milligan winning 25-17. Truett held the lead at the very beginning of the set, but after a Milligan kill and two hitting errors from Truett, the Buffs led until the end of the set. Milligan also out-killed Truett 14-7 in the same set.
The third and final set was the closest, with a 25-21 win for the Buffs. Milligan went on an 11-point scoring streak making the score 19-8, putting them only a few points away from winning.
After an error from Milligan, the Bears went on a 12-point streak, closing up the gap to 22-20. Milligan was able to finish the game after a kill from senior Julie Dockery and two Truett errors. Both teams had 15 kills in the third set.
Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Doneva Bays accredited the win to the team’s offense. “We served extremely well. The middles set up offense early in the game, and we had a lot of kills from the outside,” she said.
Bays said that Truett has a great team, and Milligan had an easier time winning than she expected. Bays also commented on the length of the game and her expectations, saying that it is always the expectation to win and doing so in three straight sets is impressive.
Bays discussed the team playing well and being able to play most of the team off the bench during the third set. The Buffs struggled a little, and the Bears started to catch up, which Bays claimed was just nerves. “It was just a little bit of inexperience, but we battled through it and stayed together as a team,” said Bays.
Bays also mentioned how this win will help the Buffs get closer to their goal of getting a good placement for the conference tournament and getting a bid for the national tournament. “Since we lost two games early on, we need and want to win the rest of our seven conference games to get where we want to finish,” said Bays. “This win definitely helped us. It’s what we played for.”
Headline photo: The Buffs defeated the Bears Friday night inside of Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.