PEORIA, Ill. -- Eighth-year Bradley Volleyball head coach Scott Luster was impressed with the defensive effort displayed as the Braves hosted their annual Red-White scrimmage before an estimated crowd of 229 Monday night at Robertson Memorial Field House.
Junior attacker Kelly Niemeyer and senior libero Gillian Falknor highlighted the defensive efforts with 19 and 17 digs, respectively. Both teams got off to a slow start, with neither team hitting above .200 in the first game. The offense came together in the final two games, particularly for the Red squad which hit .238 and .234 in the final two sets to pull out a 3-0 victory (31-29, 30-22, 30-28).
"We are more athletic than last season and that has certainly helped lead to the improvement with the defense," Luster said. "This is going to be a fun team to watch. We saw a few things that need to be worked on over the next few days before opening the season this weekend, but that's what a scrimmage like this is for."
Niemeyer and sophomore Nikki Pierzchala both finished with double-doubles on the night. Pierzchala had a match-high 14 kills and added 13 digs as she split time between the two squads, while Niemeyer added 13 kills to go along with her match-best 19 digs.
Senior Lindsay Stalzer got off to a slow start, collecting four kills and hitting .222 in the opening game, but tallied nine kills and hit at a .400 clip in the final two games to finish with 13 kills and four blocks. Freshman middle blocker Katrina Goncher had a solid debut, posting 10 kills and six blocks, while hitting .381 on the night.
Junior Amy McFarland boasted a .300 hitting percentage, finishing with nine kills and five blocks. Fellow junior Amber DeBroux contributed seven kills as she played all three games with the red squad.
Ashley Vance and sophomore Eileen Hillary split time at setter for the red squad in the first two games, before Hillary moved to the white squad for game three. The white squad hit a game-high .289 in the final game with Hillary at setter as she finished with a match-high 29 assists. Vance tallied 23 assists on the night, sharing the setting duties with freshman Sam Black in the third game. Black had 25 assists and four digs in her first outing as a Brave.
Junior Jasmine Kinslow nearly finished with a double-double, posting eight kills and 10 block assists, while sophomore Jenna Harrison had seven kills and four blocks. Junior libero Jennifer Bohan had 13 digs and two aces in her Braves debut. Senior Briony Hammet added eight kills and 11 digs as she was one of three players with eight or more kills and digs.
Bradley opens the season Saturday, August 27 at the Pepsi Challenge in Charleston, Ill. The Braves face Dayton at 10 a.m. and will play host Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m.
