Volleyball Ends Regular Season with Sweep of Milligan

ATHENS, Tenn.- The volleyball team ended the regular season with a sweep on Tuesday. Tennessee Wesleyan won their Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) match against the Milligan University Lady Buffaloes 3-0. 

The first set win came by a score of 25-20 for the Lady Bulldogs. Amya Sutton recorded the first kill of the match before back and forth action put the score in a 7-7 tie. TWU broke the tie with four straight points, and eventually led 20-14 on a block assist by Nyah Hudson and Ella Brannan.  Kills by Sutton and Alley Hibdon helped the Lady Bulldogs win the set by the five-point margin.

Hunter Ford started the second set off with a kill, helping Tennessee Wesleyan lead 3-0. After the match became tied 5-5, the Lady Bulldogs went on a 8-3 run, taking a 13-8 lead on a Talynn Wheeler and a 15-10 lead on Gracelyn Jackson's kill. Holding a 18-12 lead, TWU scored five straight points and went on to win the second set 25-14. 

Similar to the second set, Ford opened the third frame with a kill, while two service aces by Hibdon helped the team on their way to the first six points of the set. The Lady Bulldogs contiuned to carry the lead, holding a 15-9 lead after block assists by Ford and Savannah Jones. Back-to-back kills by Hudson helped the team move their advantage to 19-10. Leading 24-17, Milligan scored four straight points but did not pull closer as Sutton ended the match, giving the team a 25-21 third set win for the sweep. 

Sutton led the three players in double-digits kills with 16 to go along with 11 kills by Ford and 10 kills by Hudson. Hibdon aided the offense with 21 assists while Bailey Dalton had 16 assists. Jackson led the defense with 16 digs. 

Up next for Tennessee Wesleyan (20-11, 12-7 AAC) is the AAC Tournament in Kingsport, Tenn. As it stands, the Lady Bulldogs are the fifth seed in the tournament and would play on Friday, Nov. 14 at 4:00 p.m.