MILLIGAN, Tenn.— The Montreat volleyball team concluded its 3-match road trip with a rivalry contest at Milligan University on Saturday. After falling behind 2-0 to the Buffaloes, the Cavs failed to rally, dropping to 8-9 (5-9 AAC) on the year with a 3-0 defeat in Tennessee.
 
Milligan (18-6, 12-2 AAC) notched each of the first five points; however, the Cavaliers responded with four straight to pull within one early. The Buffaloes used another quick spurt to lead 13-6, but behind a 7-2 stretch powered by four MU errors and kills from Katie Dickey, Destini Phifer and Kamryn Wolf, Montreat closed the gap to 15-13. Despite the run from the Cavs and four kills from Wolf, Milligan closed out a 25-19 first-frame victory.
 
A pair of MU attack errors handed Montreat a 4-2 edge at the start of the second set. As the teams struggled for the upper hand, seven ties through the opening 20 points ultimately resulted in the Buffaloes taking an 11-10 advantage. The home side then used an 8-1 run to expand its edge out to 17-11. Looking to answer, Dickey recorded a kill and Shalice Lynch added a block to immediately pull within three (17-14) out of a timeout. Following a 3-0 stretch by MU, two kills from Wolf and a pair of miscues by the Buffaloes brought the visitors within two (20-18); however, key attacking errors plagued a comeback attempt as Milligan captured a 25-21 set triumph to grab a 2-0 lead.
 
Karly Horn factored in to two points with a block and a kill before Dickey tallied two kills and Lexi Wible added back-to-back aces at the beginning of the third frame to give the Cavaliers a 7-2 advantage. After the Buffaloes immediately climbed back within one, a pair of kills from Wolf extended the lead out to 11-8 as the Lambertville, Mich. native eclipsed the 10-kill mark in the match. Like the first two frames, offensive mistakes by the Cavaliers enabled MU to build an edge. Six Montreat errors fueled a 12-2 Milligan run that allowed the home side to go up 21-13. Playing with desperation down the stretch, Montreat diminished its deficit to four (23-19), but it was too late as the Buffaloes swept the Cavs thanks to a 25-20 third-set final.
 
In the end, the 3-set performance helped MU lead nearly every statistical category, including kills (37-30), hitting percentage (.175 to .043), assists (37-29), aces (4-2), digs (54-52) and total blocks (7.0-6.0). The Cavaliers committed fewer service errors (5-2); however, attack errors hurt Montreat's chances of winning as the visitors had eight more than their counterparts (25-17).

"This was a hard weekend. We were able to step up from Friday into Saturday, but Milligan was able to get the upper hand. We are looking ahead to next week to start back strong," head coach Brittany Carpenter said.
 
Individually, Wolf and Dickey each collected double-doubles with at least 10 kills and 10 digs. Wolf captained the offense with 12 kills and dug as many opponent attacks, while Dickey recorded exactly 10 kills and 10 digs. The matches marked Wolf's seventh double-double of 2023 and Dickey's fifth such game. Katie Alexander (14 assists) and Reese Davis (11 assists) split the setting duties, and Wible ended with a team-high 19 digs and the squad's two aces.
 
Volleyball returns to McAlister Gymnasium for its next competition, a battle with Brenau University on Tuesday. First serve is expected at 6:30 p.m.