Volleyball heads to AAC tourney on Wednesday

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (March 23, 2021) – The Milligan University women's volleyball team is set to compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament this week at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport. Action is set to be under way Wednesday with the Buffs' first match scheduled for 4 p.m.

Milligan (14-11, 12-7 AAC) enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seeded Union (13-6, 12-6 AAC). The two teams split the regular season, with Union winning the match at Milligan in three sets on Sept. 26 before Milligan won the match at Union in five sets on Oct. 22.

Head Coach Doneva Bays shared her thoughts on the tournament and matchup with the Bulldogs.

"The tournament will be very competitive, and I think any team can beat any team on a given day," she said. "We match up well with Union and are hopeful for a win. I really feel like it will come down to the team that makes fewer errors and can offensively put points on the board."

Bays noted the team's goal of winning the tournament championship, which would put the Buffs into the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship for the third straight year.

"Our goal is to win the tournament and get another bid to the national tournament," she added. "We have a team that is very capable of doing just that. We will need to push our offense and eliminate our unforced errors to accomplish this goal. The tournament brings an excitement that you cannot teach. I am excited for my team to be playing in March for a conference championship."

A win over Union would have the Buffs playing on the final day of the tournament, as the schedule is set for two days. The Buffs would then play their semifinal match Thursday at 10 a.m. A win in the semifinal would put the Buffs into the final, set for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., contingent on which teams advance to the final.

One such contingency would be if Bryan and Reinhardt, the tournament's top two seeds, advanced to the final, in which case a third-place match would be necessary for determining the conference's third bid to the national championship. Yet another unique element to the season.

"Unique is definitely a way to describe this year," Bays said. "We have worked extremely hard in the offseason to prepare for a spring season and conference tournament. I feel like our athletes have remained engaged and stayed healthy through the year for this opportunity. I am proud of the work they have put in to this yearlong season."

No fans will be permitted to attend the tournament, but all matches can be viewed live online through aacsports.com.