MILLIGAN, Tenn. — The Montreat College volleyball team suffered a five-set defeat to the Milligan University Buffaloes on Friday night in Tennessee. Despite winning the initial two frames and earning four match points in the fifth set, the Cavaliers landed on the wrong side of a 19-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 17-15 scoreline. With the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) result, the Cavs moved to 5-13 (3-9 AAC), while the Buffs improved to 2-14 (2-10 AAC).
Milligan jumped out to a swift 5-2 lead in the opening frame, but the visitors answered with a
Taylor Shaw kill, two
Katie Alexander service aces and a Buffaloes' attacking error to hop in front, 6-5. A 6-1 spurt midway through the set built a 12-8 advantage for Montreat.
Josie Leatherman supplied a trio of kills during the stretch, while
Bonnie Trautman notched one and
Brittany Jack contributed an ace. The hosts battled back on numerous occasions, but
Elizabeth Harrington did her part to ensure the Cavaliers held on. Trautman,
Rafaela Scherer and Leatherman helped tally the final four points to win the frame, 25-19.
Alexander started off the second set with a service ace, and Leatherman rattled off three kills to power an 8-3 start for the Cavs. Harrington later sparked a 5-0 run with a kill off a Shaw pass, and she ended the sequence by teaming up with
Maggie Furches for a block. The span vaulted Montreat out to a 13-6 edge. To Milligan's credit, the Buffs slashed the gap to one point four separate times, but the visitors never let their opposition fully erase the deficit. Back-to-back attack errors clinched the frame for the Cavaliers, 25-22.
MU's comeback began in the third set. The hosts won 10 of the initial 13 points to set the tone. Kills from
Judah Reece, Trautman, Scherer and Leatherman aided Montreat in chipping away at the margin, and a Harrington block helped pull the Cavs to within 16-14. A service error and two attack errors cost the Buffaloes their lead at 22-22, but the home team bounced back to seize three of the ensuing four points, as well as the frame, 25-23.
Five straight points, including four consecutive kills from Harrington, Reece and Shaw, carried the away side to a 9-7 lead early in the fourth set. Leatherman got the job done on both sides of the net midway through the frame, finishing off an Alexander feed before joining Harrington for a rejection to maintain the two-point edge at 15-13. From there, the Buffs dominated the set to force a decisive fifth frame. Milligan claimed 12 of the final 15 points in the fourth to end with a 25-18 final.
An attack error handed Montreat its first lead of the fifth set at 2-1. Reece's kill and Shaw's assist later brought the score to 6-5. After the hosts leveled the frame at 6-6, the Cavaliers fired off five in a row, thanks in large part to kills from Trautman and Reece and block assists from Harrington, Reece,
Ruthann Stout and Trautman. Leatherman's attack put the visitors ahead, 14-11; however, the Buffaloes fought off four match points and captured six of the final seven points to steal the set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2.
The Cavs racked up more blocks (8-3) and a better hitting percentage (.190 to .118) on the night, but Milligan tallied more kills (56-52), assists (53-45), service aces (15-10) and digs (68-66) to complete the comeback.
Harrington led Montreat with 15.5 points, recording 13 kills on a .333 hitting percentage with one solo block and three block assists. Leatherman finished with a team-high 14 kills and added two block assists for 15 points. Trautman tallied eight kills, four service aces and three block assists.
Allie Anderson collected a team-high and career-high 21 digs, while
Isabella Farmer added 12 digs. Alexander (27) and Shaw (17) delivered double-digit assist totals.
Due to expected inclement weather in the region, the Montreat College volleyball team's nonconference match at the University of Toccoa Falls, originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, has been postponed. The Cavaliers are now slated to return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 13 versus Columbia International University. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. inside McAlister Gymnasium in Montreat, N.C.
