Fresh off winning last year’s Appalachian Athletic Conference North Division, a runner-up finish in the AAC tournament and a trip to the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Final Site, Milligan College’s volleyball program was selected to finish runner-up in the 2019 AAC regular season according to the preseason coaches’ poll.
“This ranking is not as important as the end of the season,” Head Coach Doneva Bays said, “but it is nice that our peers notice the strength of our program and have as high of expectations for this team as we do. I think this team is motivated without the ranking, but this solidifies our expectations.”
Milligan returns nearly the entire team from last season, losing only Alyssa Rupert and Caroline Little to graduation. Although Rupert, the AAC libero of the year and an NAIA All-American honorable mention, will be tough to replace, the Buffs return All-AAC first team members Kellee Geren and Julie Dockery along with All-AAC second team and All-Freshman team member Elise Gregory.
The Buffs were 26-9 (16-3 AAC) during the 2018 campaign, picking up Bays’ 200th career win along the way before landing a trip to the national championship final site for the first time since 1996.
“Our goal is to make it back to the national championship and win at the final site so this ranking will help feed that goal,” Bays said. “Another big goal for this team is to continue our success off the court academically and as servant leaders.”
