Volleyball edged in five-set thriller at St. Andrews

LAURINBURG, N.C. (September 18, 2021) – The Milligan University volleyball team went down to the wire in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchup for the second straight game, but this time the Buffs fell 3-2 to St. Andrews on Saturday afternoon.

Milligan falls to 4-9 on the season and 2-2 in AAC play. St. Andrews remains unbeaten in league play (4-0) and moves to 4-11 overall. Saturday marked the Buffs' second-consecutive five-set match against an AAC opponent, this time falling 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 12-15. Milligan had two cracks at a match point in the fourth set, but St. Andrews survived and edged the Buffs in the final frame.

St. Andrews began the game with six kills in a game-opening 8-1 run. The Knights led 12-5 before the Buffs responded. Sarah Grace Larkey smacked four kills in a comeback effort, the last of which tied the set at 20. Back-to-back kills by Elise Gregory gave the Buffs a 22-21 lead, but St. Andrews earned a critical side-out and closed out the set 25-22.

After the second set began with the teams tied at six, the Buffs took control with a 10-3 run to take a 16-9 advantage. St. Andrews trimmed Milligan's lead to two (19-17), but the Buffs responded with a kill by Hannah Daniel and ace from Ashelyn Vandergriff to stifle the Knights' momentum and close out the set 25-23.

With Vandergriff at the service line, the Buffs notched the first six points of the third set, including a pair of aces. St. Andrews worked back to a two-point deficit (9-7) but the Buffs responded by reeling off seven of the next eight points to lead 16-8. Milligan won the set in wire-to-wire fashion 25-

The fourth set saw Milligan erase an 11-4 deficit with a seven-point run. The set went back and forth the rest of the way with neither team leading by more than two points. The set was tied at 22, 24 and 25, but it was St. Andrews who staved off two match points and battled to take the set 27-25.

The Buffs got three kills from Larkey and Carley Gregory and four from Ella Maiden in a wild fifth set. The final frame was tied featured six ties and four lead changes, but it was St. Andrews that emerged victorious 15-12 to take the AAC win.

Maiden turned in another outstanding performance with 13 kills and a career-high 11.0 total blocks. Larkey posted her second-straight double-digit kill outing with 11 spikes. Carley Gregory and Elise Greory added nine kills apiece and E. Gregory racked up six total blocks.

Taylor Pavich reset her career high in assists for the second straight game with 51 assists. She also recorded three kills, 17 digs and four total blocks.

Paxton Adkins had 21 digs and Cameron McConnell added 19 digs. Vandergriff had three aces and 11 digs.

Milligan's volleyball team returns to action Tuesday night when the Buffs host Tennessee Wesleyan at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.