PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Lindsay Stalzer had a match-high 29 kills and sophomore Kelly Niemeyer added a career-high 18 kills, but Southern Illinois rallied to take the final two games and steal a five-game victory from the Bradley volleyball team Friday at Robertson Memorial Field House. Game scores in favor of the Salukis were 31-33, 30-25, 23-30, 30-18, 15-9.

Niemeyer and Stalzer helped the Braves to a 2-1 lead in the match as the duo combined for 33 of the team's first 49 kills in the first three games. Niemeyer had nine of her career-best 18 kills in the opening game as Bradley claimed a 33-31 win in the opener.

Southern Illinois took game two to even the match, winning 30-25. The Braves turned up the defense in the third game, limiting the Salukis to an .050 hitting percentage in the game as Bradley claimed a 30-23 win to take a 2-1 lead.

The Salukis hit a combined .378 in the final two games to post 30-18 and 15-9 wins to complete the come back victory and improve their record to 9-16 overall, 6-7 in the Valley. Bradley fell to 7-18 overall, 1-13 in conference play.

Bradley tied the score in game four at 5-5 on a Kaitlyn Brenner kill, but Southern Illinois ran off five consecutive points to start a 14-5 run that gave the Salukis a 19-10 lead. Southern Illinois held off the Braves, who hit .135 during game four compared to .333 for the Salukis, to even the match at two games each with a 30-18 win.

Stalzer kept the Braves in game five early on, posting five kills during an eight-point span to give Bradley a 7-6 lead in the deciding game. Errors down the stretch proved costly however as Southern Illinois benefitted from four Braves attack errors and a service error to pull away down the stretch. The Salukis hit .467 in the final game, pounding seven kills with no hitting errors on 15 attempts.

Stalzer came up one short kill of tying her career high of 30 kills set earlier this season against Southern Illinois. She also added three aces and four blocks while hitting at a .370 clip. Her 29 kills tied for the 10th best match total in Bradley history.

Niemeyer posted a career-best 18 kills and had seven digs. Junior Ashley Vance had her team-best seventh double-double of the season with 60 assists and 15 digs. Juniors Briony Hammet and Gillian Falknor tied for team-high honors with 17 digs each.

Southern Illinois was paced by Jene Pulliam's 19 kills. Erica Miller led the Salukis defensively with 25 digs, helping SIU to an 88-78 edge in digs.

Bradley returns to action Saturday, when the Braves host Evansville at 7 p.m. at Robertson Field House.