NORMAL, Ill. ? Freshmen Melissa Collins (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) and Emily Austin (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each recorded six kills to lead the Bradley volleyball team, as the Braves open the final road swing of the season with a 10-30, 16-30, 23-30 loss at I-74 rival Illinois State Saturday night at Redbird Arena.

The Braves (3-24 overall, 2-12 MVC) struggled offensively, hitting just .058 as a team while Illinois State committed just eight attack errors in the three games and attacked at a .371 clip. Bradley managed just 26 kills compared to 20 errors on the night. The Redbirds (16-10 overall, 8-7 MVC) used a balanced attack and served up 11 aces, while also owning a 46-39 edge in digs.

Illinois State took control of game one early on, opening with a 12-2 run en route to a 25-5 lead. The Redbirds hit .393 in the opening game and cruised to a 30-10 victory.

ISU scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second game and Bradley was never able to cut the lead under eight points the remainder of the set as the Redbirds took a commanding two game lead with a 30-16 win. Bradley improved its hitting percentage to .114 in game two, but the Braves were unable to cool off the Redbirds, who hit .370 as a team.

Bradley put up a fight in game three trailing by four points at 24-20. Kari Staehlin and Mallory Leggett each recorded a pair of kills for Illinois State, to help the Redbirds go on a 6-3 spurt to close out the match with a 30-23 win.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Comiskey (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) led the Braves with eight digs, pushing her career dig total over 500. Collins moved her season kill total to 201 and is the first Bradley freshman since Lindsay Stalzer (2002-05) to record 200 kills in a season.

Staehlin and Leggett tied for match-high honors with 10 kills to lead Illinois State. MC Richmond added seven kills, three aces and 11 digs to help the Redbirds sweep the regular-season series from the Braves for the fourth consecutive year.

Bradley returns to action Friday at 7 p.m. at Southern Illinois.