Box Score
PEORIA, Ill. -- After a slow start in game one, Bradley regrouped offensively and hit a combined .341 in the final two games to complete the sweep of visiting Illinois-Chicago Tuesday night 30-28, 30-22, 31-29 at Robertson Memorial Field House. Senior Lindsay Stalzer led the Braves with 17 kills to break Jenny Pavlas' school career kills record.
The Braves (13-11 overall) hit just .132 in the opening game, but limited UIC to an .095 hitting percentage to take the opener 30-28. Bradley cruised to a 30-22 victory in game two, hitting .368 in the game.
Stalzer notched seven of her team-high 17 kills in the final game, with the record-breaking kill coming on a back row set that put the Braves ahead 28-26. Both teams traded kills to make it 29-27, before UIC blocked a Braves attack attempt to pull to within one point at 29-28.
Maura McCarthy knotted the game at 29-29 with a kill for the Flames, but junior Amber DeBroux and sophomore Jenna Harrison combined for a block on the ensuing play to give Bradley a 30-29 lead. Senior Briony Hammet closed things out with an ace as Bradley completed the sweep with the 31-29 win.
Stalzer had team highs of 17 kills, 10 digs and four service aces to pace the Braves, but the quartet of Harrison, DeBroux, junior Kelly Niemeyer and freshman Katrina Goncher combined for 22 kills and hit .442 on the evening to also highlight the Braves offense. Harrison tallied eight kills and hit .615, while DeBroux and Niemeyer both had five kills, one hitting error and 11 attacks. Goncher finished with four kills and hit .375.
Stalzer broke Jenny Pavlas' school record of 1,732 kills to move into fourth place on the Missouri Valley Conference career kills list. She entered the night seventh on the Valley's kills list with 1,716 and passed Kate Galer (1,720 kills), Cheryl Berg (1,725) and Pavlas (1,732) during the course of the evening and now has 1,733 kills. Stalzer also went over 500 kills for the second consecutive season is now one of five players in Valley history with two seasons of 500 or more kills.
Katarina Nedeljkovic led UIC with 18 kills. Junior Katie Kozak nearly posted a double-double finishing the night with a match-high 46 assists to go along with nine digs. The Flames fell to 10-15 on the season with the loss.
Bradley returns to action Friday when the Braves face Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.