Milligan prepares for national championship opening round

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Nov. 22, 2019) – After finishing runner-up in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament, the Milligan College women's volleyball team clinched a bid to the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship and was selected to host its opening round match.

The national championship is a 44-team event with the top 19 seeds and championship host Morningside automatically advancing to the national championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. On Saturday, Nov. 23, 12 opening round matches will determine the other 12 teams that will advance to Iowa.

Saturday's Match Information

Milligan will play Martin Methodist College at 1 p.m. EST inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. This is the first time in Milligan history that one of its teams has hosted a national championship event on campus.

Admission is $5, and gates open at 11:30 a.m.

The match will be streamed live online, free of charge, with veteran broadcaster Tom Taylor calling the action. Live stats will be available through Dakstats. To access these pages, please visit milliganbuffs.com.

Milligan | Season Facts

The Buffs finished their season 24-11 (16-4 AAC). They won the North Division of the AAC by defeating Union College in the final match of the regular season. They then went on to defeat Montreat and Truett McConnell in the AAC tournament to advance to the championship and ultimately qualify for the national championship.

Milligan had a slow start to their season going 8-9 in September before turning around and going on a 13-game winning streak. They were undefeated the entire month of October and their one loss since September came in the AAC tournament championship game against No. 25 Reinhardt.

Milligan | Leaders

Milligan is led by senior Kellee Geren who was named the AAC Player of the Year and Setter of the Year. Geren broke the Milligan all-time assist record this year, surpassing the previous record of 4,279. She will go into Saturday's match with 4,857 career assists. Geren averages 9.9 assists a set with 1,271 on the season. She is second on the team in digs with 357.

Milligan will also be led by senior All-AAC first team member Julie Dockery. Dockery has the second most kills on the team with 278, averaging 2.19 per set and leads the team in hitting percentage with a .338. Dockery had 25 kills during the AAC tournament over 10 sets, enough to help her earn a spot on the all-tournament team alongside Geren.

Carley Gregory has also heavily assisted the Buffs' offensive front, as she leads the team with 375 kills averaging 3.1 a set. Gregory also has the second most service aces on the team with 40.

The defense this season for the Buffs has been led by Geren, Layla Grant, Ashelyn Vandergriff and Cameron McConnell. Grant leads Milligan's defense with 602 digs and, in addition to that, she leads the team with 52 aces. Vandergriff and McConnell have 302 and 337 digs apiece.

Along with these six players, the Buffs will find offensive power from Alyssa Gibson, Julia Codispoti and Abby Falcone.

Milligan | Championship History

This is the third time that Milligan has made it to the national championship. The Buffs are one of 27 teams who qualified for the national tournament in 2018 and have returned in 2019. Before last season, the Buffs had last qualified for the national championship in 1996, during Head Coach Doneva Bays' playing career.

Martin Methodist | Season Facts

The RedHawks qualified for their first-ever national championship appearance by being the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season champions and tournament champions. Martin Methodist's record going into the national championship is 26-8 (12-1 SSAC).

The RedHawks had a slow start to their season as well, dropping four out of their first five matches before turning around and losing only four more matches the rest of the season. Their only conference loss of the season came from a five-set battle against Bethel.

Martin Methodist | Leaders

Hayley Brisendine, who was named the SSAC Libero of the Year, and Sydney Arnold, who was named the SSAC Setter of the Year, lead the RedHawks.

Brisendine ranks second in the nation in digs per set, averaging 6.6 and has 790 total digs on the season. Arnold comes into the national championship with a respectful season this far as well. She averages 9.8 assists per game and has 1,209 total assists on the year so far. She has a career assist total of 4,310. Arnold was also a strong defender this season for the RedHawks as she racked up 352 total digs.

Kara Nelms and Kaitlyn Lund earned All-SSAC first team honors for their efforts this season and served as the offensive front for the RedHawks. Nelms racked up 231 kills and posted 285 digs so far on the year. Lund posted 205 total kills and amassed 106 total blocks on the season.

The RedHawks are also led by Chandler Salvig, Rebecka Cronin and Lauren Martin. Salvig has 204 kills on the season, Cronin has 371 kills and 326 digs, and Martin has 260 kills. All three players received All-SSAC second team honors.

On the line Saturday

The winner of Saturday's match will advance to the final site, set for Tuesday-Saturday, Dec. 3-7, at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. There, the Milligan-Martin Methodist winner will join the other 31 teams for a chance to win the 2019 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship. Last season, Milligan advanced to the final site but suffered elimination in pool play.