BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Millsaps College volleyball team got the 2019 postseason underway on Friday night with a Southern Athletic Association (SAA) quarterfinal matchup against Sewanee. 

The Majors came out hitting on all cylinders as they took the first two sets. Unfortunately, the No. 4 seeded Tigers battled back to win the final three sets in a row to escape with a 3-2 win. 

The loss ends the Millsaps season. The Majors finish with an overall record of 17-14. That is seven more wins than last season, and the most for the program since the 2014 season. 

How It Happened
The first set was back-and-forth until Millsaps gained a late advantage on a Sewanee attack error followed by a McKenzi Petricko kill. That forced a Tiger timeout with the Majors leading 22-20. Sewanee rallied to make it 24-23, but a kill from Erica Bennett gave the Majors their 25th point to close out the set.

In the second set it was all Millsaps. The Majors led by as many as eight points midway through. They built on that lead scoring the final four points of the set unanswered to win 25-14. 

Unfortunately the Tigers responded with a 25-22 win in set three, and took the fourth set 25-23 to tie things up at 2-2. 

In the decisive fifth set neither team was able to gain much of an advantage until late. Sewanee put down three straight points to go ahead 13-9 and force a Millsaps timeout. The Majors answered back with a Morgan Vincent kill, but the Tigers scored the final two points of the match to take the fifth set and escape the quarterfinal round with a 3-2 win. 

Notables

• Petricko finished with a game-high 20 kills.
• Bennett added 17 kills of her own, while Vincent finished with 14.
• Payton Passantino totaled 26 digs
• Mary Tebbe and Katelyn Thomas combined for 51 assists.
• The Majors out-blocked Sewanee 8-2