PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Milligan College continued its fantastic volleyball season on Saturday, picking up its 20^th win of the season with a 3-0 win over the University of Pikeville.
 
Picked fifth in the preseason AAC poll, the Buffs are firmly in second place at 14-2 in the league now.
 
UPike, meanwhile, is also having a big, turnaround season, standing 17-8 on the season and 9-8 in the conference. The Bears were coming off a four-win season a year ago.
 
Milligan jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the opener thanks to the play of senior Taylor Pavich, who had two kills and a service ace early. But freshman Lanie Hawley had two kills and a block to lead a UPike rally, and when freshman Alondra Ayende recorded a kill, the match was even at 9-9.
 
The score was 17-15 when Milligan pulled away. Sophomore outside hitter Shelby Miller had back-to-back kills, and, after a service error, she and Pavich went back-to-back to build toward a 25-19 win in the opener.
 
Tied at 2-2 in the second set, the Buffs got consecutive kills from Pavich, junior Ella Maiden and freshman Avery Maiden to get the lead. The Bears recovered, and a pair of kills by junior Yaricel Rodriguez got them back within one at 6-5.
 
But the Bears could never take the lead. Three late points got them within four before an Avery Maiden kill gave Milligan a 25-20 win.
 
The third set started with ties three times early before Milligan ran off four straight points to take a 7-3 lead. The Bears closed the gap to one at 14-13, getting a Hawley kill and taking advantage of a pair of Buffaloes errors.
 
But Milligan scored four of the next five points to pull away, and another kill by Pavich ended the match 25-18.
 
Ayende led the Bears on attack with 10 kills. Hawley had eight kills and added to her league-leading service ace total with one. She now has 47 on the season. Senior Cheyenne Martinez had 20 assists.
 
On the defensive side of the net, the Bears had four solo blocks with Hawley recording two of them. Nine different Bears were credited with digs. Ayende and senior Kiara Warrens each had seven.
 
Milligan got 12 kills each from Pavich and Avery Maiden. Junior setter Kolbie Greene had 34 assists.
 
Ella Maiden had five solo blocks for the Buffs.
 
UPike volleyball will return home on Tuesday night when the Bears host Bluefield College. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the UPike Gym.