PEORIA, Ill. --
A strong group of returning letterwinners, which includes nine upperclassmen, has eighth-year Bradley Volleyball head coach
Scott Luster optimistic about the upcoming 2005 season which opens August 27th and Missouri Valley Conference coaches agreed the Braves should be improved as they voted the Braves to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, announced Thursday.
Thursday also marked the first day of practice for the squad, which finished 9-20 overall and finished ninth in the Valley last season. Leading the way offensively will be senior Lindsay Stalzer (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee), who was named to the preseason all-conference squad.
Defending regular-season champion Wichita State received seven of the 10 first-place votes and edged Missouri State for the top spot in the coaches poll, receiving a total of 94 points. Missouri State had two first-place votes and was picked second with 91 points, while Northern Iowa (75), Illinois State (74), Creighton (66) and Bradley (40) rounded out the top six spots. Evansville was selected to finish seventh with 34 points with Southern Illinois (28), Indiana State (27) and Drake (21) completing the poll.
A two-time first-team All-Valley pick, Stalzer led the MVC in kills per game (4.97) last season as a junior and set a school season record with 527 kills. Just the 10th player in Missouri Valley Conference history with 1,200 career kills before the end of their her season, Stalzer needs 505 kills to break Bradley's career kills mark.
The Braves return 11 of 14 letterwinners from last season, including five individuals that started 19 or more matches. In addition to Stalzer, Bradley returns senior setter Ashley Vance (Loda, Ill./Paxton-Buckley-Loda), who missed five matches last seasons due to an injury suffered in the preseason. A two-year starter at setter, Vance ranks fourth in school history with 2,561 career assists and was one of the Braves top passers in 2004.
Also returning this fall are fellow seniors Briony Hammet (Biloela, Queensland, Australia/Gladstone) and Gillian Falknor (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove/Missouri-St. Louis). A three-year starter at attacker, Hammet ranked second on the team in kills, aces and digs last season and is one of 11 players in program history with 600 kills, 600 digs and 75 service aces. The Braves libero, Falknor posted a team-best 3.33 digs per game average last year after transferring from Missouri-St. Louis and will.
All told, Bradley brings back its top four individuals in kills per game from last season and four of the six individuals that recorded 100 or more kills in 2004. Stalzer, Hammet and junior Amber DeBroux (Byron, Ill./Byron) ranked first, second and third, respectively, last season in kills and combined for 913 kills or nearly 60 percent of the Braves offense last season.
The Braves will host their annual Red-White scrimmage Monday, August 22 at 7 p.m. at Robertson Memorial Field House and will open the regular-season August 27 against Dayton and Eastern Illinois at the Pepsi Challenge in Charleston, Ill. Bradley's first home match will be part of the Radisson Hotel Invitational (September 9 & 10), which includes Oakland, Southeast Missouri State, Belmont and Northern Illinois.
