JACKSON, Miss. — The Millsaps College volleyball team took down AVCA-Taraflex Division III WVB Poll No. 7 Trinity University, 3-2 on Friday before falling to Southwestern University, 3-1, on Saturday inside the Hangar Dome.
The last time the Majors defeated a ranked opponent was April 10, 2021, when they took down No. 10 Birmingham-Southern, 3-2.
Match 1: Millsaps 3, No.7 Trinity University 2
(17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-12, 15-9)
Millsaps (10-4, 2-2 SAA) hit .293 or better in each of the final three sets while holding the Tigers to a negative hitting percentage in the fourth and fifth.
Junior Zoë LaCaze set career highs with 12 kills and six total blocks against the Tigers.
Senior Sandy Bourgeois tamed the Tigers with 28 digs while adding six assists.
Sophomore Anna Ware finished with a team-high 22 assists while adding nine digs. Freshman Khloe Duncan matched LaCaze with 12 kills and added three blocks for 14 points on the night.
Millsaps finished with narrow full-match advantages in both attack and defense, hitting .139 to Trinity's .116 while also recording 84 digs to the Tigers' 78.
In the first set, Trinity (10-5, 2-3 SAA) opened with a 6-0 run against the Majors. The Tigers maintained their momentum as the set continued, building a 21-12 lead as the Majors looking to find their way back in with senior Amelia Bohl and Drury both playing with a purpose with a pair of kills.
Down 22-13, the Majors sparked a 5-1 run, capitalizing on three Tigers' attack errors and adding two powerful kills from Duncan. Trinity answered with two kills of its own to close out the first set, 25-17.
Millsaps stayed even early in the second set, tying the score at 7-7 before taking its first lead at 8-7 on a kill by sophomore Kinney Boyle.
Trinity would later sneak the Majors on a 10-1 run, leading 17-9. Millsaps would cut its deficit to six following a kill by Duncan, while LaCaze added a kill as well, making it 20-13 with the Tigers still in control.
The visitors would put away the second set with a kill to claim a 25-16 victory with the Majors also giving great effort.
Millsaps answered a 14-12 deficit in the third set with four straight points on sophomore Atlee Gonzales' serve, moving ahead 16-14 behind two block points and a LaCaze kill. After Trinity tied it 17-17.
The Majors pushed back in front and closed the set when sophomore Rachel Zamjahn brought up set point and Boyle finished the 25-22 win with a kill from Ware.
Millsaps broke open the fourth set with an 8-0 run, fueled by seven straight points on Gonzales' serve.
Madelynn Sasser and LaCaze each recorded two kills during the stretch as the Majors created separation.
LaCaze later added a service ace, while Luneau's block closed out the 25-12 set victory.
Millsaps opened the fifth set with consecutive Duncan kills and built an 8-3 lead, with Ware serving through a Duncan kill and a Trinity attack error.
Sasser added kills for 11-6 and 13-7, and Millsaps closed after Trinity got within 13-9. A Trinity service error and Zamjahn's kill finished the set, 15-9.
Millsaps put together a seven-of-eight rally after trailing 21-9, using kills from Bohl, junior Abigail Drury, and Duncan, plus block assists involving Duncan, Luneau, and LaCaze to bring the score to 22-16.
Millsaps built the fifth set around early separation, opening with consecutive Duncan kills and answering Trinity's 2-2 tie with a Luneau kill for a 3-2 lead.
Bourgeois then served through back-to-back Trinity attack errors, and Millsaps pushed the margin to 8-3 behind a Bohl kill, another Duncan finish, and a Tigers attack error.
After Trinity moved within 8-5, LaCaze stopped the stretch with a kill, and Sasser added kills at 11-6 and 13-7 to keep Millsaps in front.
Trinity closed to 13-9, but a service error gave Millsaps a set point before Zamjahn finished the 15-9 fifth-set win with a kill.
Match 2: Southwestern 3, Millsaps 2
(19-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25)
Luneau led Millsaps with 10 kills and added one block assist. LaCaze finished with nine kills on a .348 hitting percentage, plus one solo block, one block assist and one service ace. Bourgeois recorded a team-high 16 digs. Zamjahn posted 16 assists, 10 digs and two service aces.
The Majors opened the first set with a Duncan kill off a set from Luneau and sophomore Laila Fredieu service ace to take a 2-0 lead. Moments later, both teams would battle back and forth in a tight contest down the stretch.
Millsaps moved ahead 16-15 on a Southwestern (11-5, 3-2 SAA) attack error, but the Pirates responded with five straight points, including two service aces, to go in front 20-16. LaCaze and Luneau added back-to-back kills to pull Millsaps to 20-18, but Southwestern finished the set at 25-19.
The Majors turned an 18-18 tie into a 25-19 second-set win, taking seven of the final eight rallies and scoring five straight points on Zamjahn's serve.
Millsaps won the second set, 25-19, after taking seven of the final eight rallies.
Millsaps used a 6-0 run, highlighted by two kills from Luneau and two service aces, while a pair of attack errors helped move the score from 18-18 to 24-18.
Southwestern recorded six kills, but Millsaps closed out the set with strong serving and capitalized on Tigers' attack errors, finishing on a 4-1 run after Southwestern made a substitution to blank the Tigers, 25-19.
The Majors led 12-11 after a 10-7 deficit, but Southwestern answered and took the third set 25-18. Southwestern (TX) finished with 15 kills to Millsaps's nine and added two service aces, while Luneau and Sasser each had three kills for Millsaps in the set.
In the final set, Millsaps held the Tigers to a 2-1 lead with a kill from both Duncan and LaCaze; both teams would take turns trading points before Millsaps would install a 3-0 lead with another kill by LaCaze and attack errors on the Pirates.
A service ace would soon put the Pirates back ahead by one; Millsaps would battle back to take the lead back, 9-8.
Both teams would continue to attack each other; Southwestern then responded with two kills and an attack error to take a 13-10 advantage.
Millsaps not giving found luck from two Southwestern attack errors, 14-13. Facing a heavy contested battle, the Majors would keep their foot on the Pirates as Sasser and Husby each contested a kill-down, 18-16.
Southwestern would attack the Majors on a 7-0 run to take the final set, 25-16, after the Majors put up an impressive fight.
Luneau led Millsaps with 10 kills and added one block assist. LaCaze finished with nine kills on a .348 hitting percentage, plus one solo block, one block assist and one service ace. Bourgeois recorded a team-high 16 digs. Zamjahn posted 16 assists, 10 digs and two service aces.
Up next, Millsaps volleyball team will travel to the Oglethorpe Pod where the Majors will face Centre College at 10 a.m. CT and Berry College beginning at 3 p.m. CT In Atlanta, Ga.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps volleyball program follow the Majors on X and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook and visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske
