JACKSON, Miss.—Millsaps came out Friday for day one of the Millsaps/Belhaven Invitational and put teams on notice: beating the Majors on their home court was not going to be easy. After rolling through Louisiana College 3-0 in the opening matchup, Millsaps sent the Panthers of LaGrange packing with a 3-0 win in the nightcap. 
 
Match One
 
As Millsaps took on Louisiana College in match one of the Millsaps/Belhaven invitational, the Majors bent, but they didn't break.
 
Millsaps used multiple runs throughout the match to pull ahead and send Louisiana College to their third straight loss, sweeping the match, 3-0. 
 
Set one started slow for Millsaps but runs of 9-2 and 7-0 set them up for the early 25-18. In the second, after LC took an early 2-1 lead, Millsaps pushed ahead with a 3-0 run and never trailed again, winning 25-15 in convincing fashion. The final set saw the Majors trail 15-9 but go on a 6-0 run, thanks, in part, to three aces and a kill by Morgan Vincent. With LC down to their final point, they rallied to tie it at 24 but kills by Emily Herring and Maddie Grace McCurdy sealed the win for Millsaps. 
 
Vincent led the way with 10 kills and her 6 aces while McKenzi Petricko added 9 kills and Alyssa Jolly had 6 kills with 2 aces. Gracie Bellnap chipped in 22 assists and Katelyn Thomas had 16. 
 
Defensively, Payton Passantino led the way with 20 digs.    
 
STAT OF THE GAME…The Majors finished with 14 aces, including 6 from Vincent. 

THE MATCH WAS OVER WHEN…After trailing 10-15 in the third set, Millsaps used a 12-4 run to take away LC's momentum and eventually win the set 26-24. 
 
Match Two
 
If there was any doubt as to how good this Millsaps team is, the Majors tried to remove it with a 3-0 shutout of LeGrange. 
 
The first two sets came down to the wire but momentum, coupled with a big service game from Bellnap, gave the Majors a convincing third set win. 
 
The two teams came out evenly matched in the opening set, with neither team being able to pull ahead by more than 3. But after LeGrange tied it at 22, Millsaps used a kill from Bennett and a pair of Panther errors to take the first set, 25-22. 
 
Things were even closer in the second, as LeGrange jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before three kills by Bennett and one by Passantino tied the set at 6. From there, each team went on little runs that would put them ahead, until the other tied it up. LeGrange served for the match, up 24-23, but Vincent's kill tied it and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. After trading points to 27, a Bennett kill and an Panther error gave the Majors a 2-0 lead. 
 
The final set saw LeGrange jump out to a quick 5-1 lead before Millsaps came storming back to take the lead. Jolly reeled off 4 straight service points to put the Majors ahead for good. Bellnap took over late in the set, serving 5 straight winning points before kills by Jolly and Vincent put the match away for good. 
 
Bennett led the charge with 15 kills, Petricko had 13 and Vincent had 9. Bellnap (21) and Thomas (20) combined for 41 assists. Defensively, Jolly and Bennett had 5 blocks apiece.  
 
STAT OF THE GAME…The Majors hit a blistering .424 from the field in set 3, putting up 18 kills and just 4 errors. 
 
THE MATCH WAS OVER WHEN…After pulling ahead 24-23, LeGrange couldn't close out the Majors, who eventually took the set, 29-27, and stole any momentum the Panthers had. 
 
 
 What's Next?
 
The Majors will be back in the Hangar Dome for day 2 of the Millsaps/Belhaven Invitational on Saturday. Match 1 will be at 11:00 AM against Dillard University and then Millsaps will close out the tournament with a 3:00 PM date with Tougaloo College.