Men's volleyball wins Silver Division at UT Tournament
Three days after winning at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse for the first time in the history of the program, the Milligan College men's volleyball team traveled to the University of Tennessee last weekend for the UT Bud Fields Tourney and came out with a first-place finish in the Silver Division bracket.
February 23, 2016
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 23, 2016) – Three days after winning at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse for the first time in the history of the program, the Milligan College men's volleyball team traveled to the University of Tennessee last weekend for the UT Bud Fields Tourney and came out with a first-place finish in the Silver Division bracket.
The Buffaloes started the day (Feb. 20) with pool play wins over the University of Tennessee B team and the Tennessee Tech A team before moving on to the Silver bracket.
In the opening match against the UT B team, Milligan split with a 25-23 win in game one and a 25-14 loss in the second. Nathan Gibson started the tournament off strong with 10 kills and four digs in the first two sets, while Hobie Vannoy added 14 assists and two blocks. Also in the two games, Joshua Foote had three kills and six digs, Andrew Simonsen had five digs, Blake Stanley had two blocks, and Luke Dove finished with four kills.
The Buffs proceeded to lose two games (25-15, 25-17) to the University of Tennessee Alumni Team, who went on to finish second in the tournament's championship game against the University of Tennessee A squad. Against the UT Alumni, Gibson and Vannoy again led Milligan, with Gibson tallying 10 kills and five digs and Vannoy dishing out 16 assists to go along with four digs. Dove added three kills while Drew Doehring had two kills and an impressive three blocks.
Milligan then clinched a spot in the Silver bracket by splitting against the Tech A squad, a 25-16 defeat followed by a 27-25 win to gain some momentum heading into divisional play. Gibson earned his third straight double-digit kill match with a tournament-best 12 kills and four digs. Next, Dove came up big with five kills, Foote had four kills with two blocks and two digs, and Doehring had three kills. Defensively, Simonsen set the pace with 13 digs while Vannoy finished with a pool play-best 19 assists.
Once in the Silver bracket, the Buffs cruised to four straight victories to end the tournament and take the Silver division crown. Milligan took down the Tennessee Tech B team twice, 25-15 and 25-19, and then in a rematch with the Tech A squad, came out on top twice in the Silver Division Championship at 25-20 and 25-21.
In the first match of divisional play against the Tech B team, Gibson had nine kills and seven digs, Vannoy had 23 assists, two blocks and two aces, Foote had six kills on nine attempts, Doehring had five kills on seven attempts with two blocks, Dove had six kills and three service aces, and Simonsen again led the defense with 10 digs. Last but not least, the Silver Division Championship saw Gibson record eight kills and 11 digs, while Jacob Smith had his best match of the tournament with seven kills, two blocks and six digs. Foote added four kills and two blocks against Tech A, while Doehring had two kills on four attempts with three blocks, Dove had a tournament-best five blocks to go along with two kills, Simonsen had nine digs, and Vannoy had 19 assists, two blocks and four digs.
Overall for the tournament, Gibson finished with an ace in every game, while Vannoy had at least one block in every game.
Next up, the Buffs return to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse looking to keep their strong season going and stay perfect at home as they host Bluefield College on Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m.
The Buffaloes started the day (Feb. 20) with pool play wins over the University of Tennessee B team and the Tennessee Tech A team before moving on to the Silver bracket.
In the opening match against the UT B team, Milligan split with a 25-23 win in game one and a 25-14 loss in the second. Nathan Gibson started the tournament off strong with 10 kills and four digs in the first two sets, while Hobie Vannoy added 14 assists and two blocks. Also in the two games, Joshua Foote had three kills and six digs, Andrew Simonsen had five digs, Blake Stanley had two blocks, and Luke Dove finished with four kills.
The Buffs proceeded to lose two games (25-15, 25-17) to the University of Tennessee Alumni Team, who went on to finish second in the tournament's championship game against the University of Tennessee A squad. Against the UT Alumni, Gibson and Vannoy again led Milligan, with Gibson tallying 10 kills and five digs and Vannoy dishing out 16 assists to go along with four digs. Dove added three kills while Drew Doehring had two kills and an impressive three blocks.
Milligan then clinched a spot in the Silver bracket by splitting against the Tech A squad, a 25-16 defeat followed by a 27-25 win to gain some momentum heading into divisional play. Gibson earned his third straight double-digit kill match with a tournament-best 12 kills and four digs. Next, Dove came up big with five kills, Foote had four kills with two blocks and two digs, and Doehring had three kills. Defensively, Simonsen set the pace with 13 digs while Vannoy finished with a pool play-best 19 assists.
Once in the Silver bracket, the Buffs cruised to four straight victories to end the tournament and take the Silver division crown. Milligan took down the Tennessee Tech B team twice, 25-15 and 25-19, and then in a rematch with the Tech A squad, came out on top twice in the Silver Division Championship at 25-20 and 25-21.
In the first match of divisional play against the Tech B team, Gibson had nine kills and seven digs, Vannoy had 23 assists, two blocks and two aces, Foote had six kills on nine attempts, Doehring had five kills on seven attempts with two blocks, Dove had six kills and three service aces, and Simonsen again led the defense with 10 digs. Last but not least, the Silver Division Championship saw Gibson record eight kills and 11 digs, while Jacob Smith had his best match of the tournament with seven kills, two blocks and six digs. Foote added four kills and two blocks against Tech A, while Doehring had two kills on four attempts with three blocks, Dove had a tournament-best five blocks to go along with two kills, Simonsen had nine digs, and Vannoy had 19 assists, two blocks and four digs.
Overall for the tournament, Gibson finished with an ace in every game, while Vannoy had at least one block in every game.
Next up, the Buffs return to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse looking to keep their strong season going and stay perfect at home as they host Bluefield College on Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m.