EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Valparaiso posted a 57-27 edge in kills and limited Bradley to an .098 attack percentage as the Crusaders swept the Braves Tuesday night in non-conference volleyball action at Lorene Ramsey Gym. Game scores were 29-27, 25-18, 25-18.

Bradley (4-12 overall) nearly rallied from an eight-point deficit to take the opening set, before Valparaiso was able to pull out a 29-27 victory. The Braves fell behind 20-12 when freshman Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) would collect three kills and three block assists to highlight an 8-0 Bradley run that pulled BU even at 20-20. The Crusaders went back in front at 24-22, but Bradley would battle back to tie the set at 24-24. After trading points, Valparaiso would close out the opening set victory on back-to-back kills by Allison Sears and Angie Porche to take the first set 29-27.

The Braves struggled offensively in the second set, hitting -.074 in the frame. Valparaiso (8-5 overall) capitalized on Bradley offensive miscues to pull away midway through the set. The Crusaders led 15-14, when Valparaiso would use a 10-4 spurt to close out the set. Sears tallied four kills and one block assist during the run to help Valparaiso to the 25-18 win.

The Crusaders used a big run to once again pull away from the Braves in the third set. Bradley trailed 14-12 after a Sam Black (Atalissa, Iowa/West Liberty) kill, but the Braves would record just two more kills the remainder of the match. Haley Wise followed a BU service error with an ace to give Valpo a 16-12 lead. Kim Bukowski had a kill for the Crusaders and Wise added her third ace of the evening to push the lead to 18-12. Three consecutive Valparaiso kills closed out a 7-0 run which gave Valparaiso a 21-12 advantage. Bradley scored five of the next seven points, but it was too little to late as Porche had back-to-back kills to help Valparaiso seal the win with a 25-18 victory.

Schmidt and junior Amy Reichel (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) led the Braves offensively with five kills each. Schmidt added a match-high six blocks. Freshman Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had a team-high 13 digs, while Black finished with 21 assists and six digs.

Valparaiso hit .282 as a team and owned a 57-27 edge in kills in addition to a 65-44 advantage in digs. Porche led the Crusaders with 19 kills and attacked at a .441 clip. Val Bollenbacher added 15 kills and Sears was also in double figures with 11 kills. Brittany Malicoat collected 27 digs in the three-set match.

Bradley continues its three-match homestand Friday when the Braves play host to Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. at Lorene Ramsey Gym.