PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley held a two games to lead against Creighton and appeared to be in line for picking up its Missouri Valley Conference victory of the season Friday, but the Bluejays rallied to take the final three games. Junior Lindsay Stalzer tallied a match-high 28 kills to pace the Braves offensively, who fell to 6-13 overall, 0-8 in the Valley.

The Braves hit a combined .296 in the opening two games, winning 30-23 and 30-27 to take a 2-0 lead. Stalzer had 14 of her match high 28 kills in the first two games, while sophomore Nikki Pierzchala added five kills and hit .556 during the same stretch.

Junior Briony Hammet had three of her four aces in the first game and the Braves totalled eight aces in the first two games and Creighton had no blocks heading into game three.

The Bluejays defense improved in game three as they totalled six blocks and had a 21-14 edge in digs in a 30-22 Creighton win.

Stalzer had six kills and hit .462 during game four as the Braves hit .333 in the set, but fell 30-23 as the Bluejays managed a .455 hitting percentage.

Bradley held a 9-8 lead in the fifth and deciding game, before Creighton rallied to claim the win. A kill by Ashley Williams and pair of blocks put the Bluejays ahead 11-9. A Pierzchala kill for Bradley was followed by kills from Creighton's Sarah Beulke and Katy Grady and a Brave attack error made the score 14-10 in favor of the Bluejays. Leah Ratzlaff put the game with her team-best 22nd kill of the night for Creighton.

“We played two outstanding games to start out,” head coach Scott Luster said. “Our energy level went down a bit after the first two games and Creighton was able to make some plays. We weren't able to keep the pressure on them the whole match.”

Stalzer finished with a match-high 28 kills and climbed to spots on Bradley's career kills list. She passed Laura Benzing (1,021 kills) and Blythe Zajakowski (1,043 kills) to move into seventh all-time with 1,049 kills. Stalzer also added three blocks and finished with 31.5 points. Junior Ashley Vance made her return after missing two matches due to injury to post her fifth double-double of the season with 57 assists and 10 digs.

Junior Kaitlyn Brenner added a career high 13 kills and Briony Hammet had her team-best sixth double-double of the season with 11 kills, 10 digs and four aces.

Creighton (13-5 overall, 5-3 MVC) held an 81-64 edge in digs and outblocked Bradley 12-7 for the match despite not having a block in the first two games. The Bluejays owned a .294 hitting percentage, compared to .210 for the Braves as Bradley hit just .151 in the final three games combined.

The Braves continue their four-match homestand Saturday against Drake at 7 p.m. at Robertson Memorial Field House.