On Friday night, Milligan University’s Women’s volleyball team battled it out against Bryan College. Bryan hosted the game on their campus in Dayton, Tennessee. The game concluded with a loss for the Lady Buffs.
The game lasted a total of four remarkably close sets. The sets ending with the scores 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, only the third being won by the Lady Buffs
Three key players, Carley Gregory, Julia Codispoti and Layla Grant, helped to support the team throughout the game.
The Lady Buffs held on to close leads during the first two sets at 20-18 and 21- 21, but Bryan turned the game around in its favor scoring the final five points for each set. The third set saw Milligan achieve its one victory, winning the last five of six points available to tip the balance in their favor. Bryan, however, won the final set and ended the match on a 11-3 run.
“There were a lot of bright moments in tonight’s match, however our serve and pass game struggled,” stated Doneva Bays, Head Volleyball Coach. “We are getting better but unfortunately we had too many errors and inconsistencies.”
For certain individuals the game proved to be noteworthy. Grant, a Junior at Milligan, entered the game with 987 digs for her whole career. By the end of the game, she achieved her 1000th, setting a new milestone for the Women’s Volleyball team and a personal milestone for herself.
Another highlight of the game came from Gregory. Adding 13 kills to her total count during the match, Gregory walked away as the number one hitter for the Lady Buffs.
Codispoti proved to be another key player for the team. The Senior helped to secure some much needed defense for the Lady Buffs by achieving four blocks for the game. Codispoti, when asked about the game, stated, “Even though we lost, we are improving with each game.”
This will not be the last time the Lady Buffs compete, however. The volleyball team still has 12 matches for the rest of the fall season. For more information about these games, go to MilliganBuffs.com for a detailed listing of this fall’s schedule.
Headline photo: Paxton Adkins stands posed to strike back an oncoming volleyball. Photo courtesy Daniel Manget.