PEORIA, IL -- Bradley has been selected to finish fourth overall in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to a vote of the league's head coaches released by the conference office Thursday.  The Braves received 27 points, following the three teams receiving first-place votes - Drake (44 points), Stony Brook (40) and Illinois State (40).

In the 2017 MVC Team Championships, Bradley upset No. 3 seed Illinois State to enter the semifinal round for the second consecutive year. The Braves were ranked sixth to start the tournament and finished tied for third. Bradley ended the 2016-17 season with a 12-14 record (2-5 MVC). Falling just one match short of .500 and matching its 2015-16 (13-13) win total, the 2016-17 campaign was head coach Matt Tyler's third consecutive season with 11 or more wins.

Bradley is returning five members of last season's roster in seniors Alexa Brandt, Alejandra de Lasa and Aimee Manfredo, junior Malini Wijesinghe and sophomore Natalia Barbery. Brandt will aim to move up in Bradley's record books, as she holds top-ten spots in four categories: career singles wins (8th), career doubles wins (7th), career combined wins (6th) and career wins doubles teams (6th with Wijesinghe). Manfredo joins her teammate in Bradley's records, holding a fourth-place spot in career singles wins (58) and seventh-place spots in career singles winning percentage (.604) and career combined wins (98). Bradley also is adding three freshmen in Victoria Gonzalez, Kinga Kovacs and Sandra Maletin.

The Braves kick off the season Jan. 26, when they host Southeast Missouri State at the Clubs at River City. While Bradley is 4-7 all-time versus SEMO, the Braves have taken five of the last six meetings in the series, the most recent of those coming in 2012. Bradley also will host Northern Illinois Jan. 27, at the Clubs at River City to conclude the dual match season's opening weekend.