(Editor’s note: University of Providence Athletics Media Release)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – No. 17 Argo volleyball closed out their historic season on Thursday as they earned their first ever NAIA Tournament victory against the Milligan College Buffaloes with a sweep, 25-8, 25-23, 25-22.
The Argos were lights out in the opening set as they got out to a 7-0 lead. The Buffs would notch two to cut the deficit to five, but the Argos responded with five kills to quickly take a double-digit advantage, 12-2. Milligan would outscore the Argos 5-4 to push the match to 18-18, but that was as much as they would get as the Argos scored seven straight to close out the set and take the early advantage, 25-8.
The Buffs garnered the first point in the second set, but the Argos would then out score Milligan 3-1 to take a one-point lead, 3-2. Milligan notched five kills and garnered an error, while the Argos would only tally two kills to retake the lead 8-5, but the Argos notched three straight after that to tie things up at 8. The two teams would trade ties as the Argos tied things up at 9, followed by the Buffs at 10, and the Argos more time at 11. Providence notched kills from Lauren Brown and Sydney Andersen to spark a 6-3 run to lead 17-14. The Buffaloes would score four-straight points to retake the lead, 18-17. The Argos and Buffaloes would trade points as they would tie six times to a 23-23 stalemate. That is as close as the Buffaloes would get as a kill from Melissa Gonzalez and Kelsey Shaver would give the Argos a 2-0 advantage headed into the third set, 25-23.
The Argos would take control of the third set early on a 6-3 run. The Buffaloes tallied four-straight points to take the lead at 7-6. The two squads battled as three ties would put things at 10 all. The Buffaloes would take two, 12-10, but a Shaver kill helped to spark five Argo points to grab a three-point lead, 15-12. Milligan would outscore the Argos 8-6 to cut the lead to one, 21-20, but the Argos would garner two errors and a kill from Shaver to get within set point, 24-20. The Buffaloes would earn two kills to cut the lead back to two, however the Argos would seal the sweep as a kill from Melissa Gonzalez ended things and gave the Argos the 25-22 victory.
Brown notched a game-high 13 kills for the Argos, while Shaver and Sydney Andersen joined her in double-digits with 10 each. Shaver garnered a double as she led the Argos defensively, tallying a game-high 20 digs as well. Paige Jensen dished out 26 assists in the win.
