Last Time Out
Bradley wrapped up the non-conference portion of the schedule with a three-set loss at DePaul. The Braves hit .206 as a team, but couldn't overcome a .359 DePaul attack percentage as the Blue Demons topped BU 25-21, 25-20, 25-19. Freshman Megan Schmidt had nine kills and three blocks while attacking at a .438 clip and sophomore Caitlin Staib had nine kills and hit at a .615 clip.
This Week
The Braves open the final homestand Friday with a 7 p.m. match against 11th-ranked Wichita State. The Shockers are 26-18 in the all-time series and have won 11 consecutive matches against Bradley. BU concludes the home portion of the schedule Saturday against Missouri State. The Bears own a 37-7 advantage in the all-time series and have won 16 straight against Bradley dating back to the 2001 season.
Last Home Stand
Bradley will play its final two home matches of the season this weekend when the Braves welcome 11th-ranked Wichita State and Missouri State to the Markin Family Student Recreation Center. Bradley will attempt to end a four-match losing streak on Senior Day Saturday against Missouri State. The Braves last win in the final home match of the season was 2004 when Bradley topped Northern Iowa on Nov. 20, 2004. Senior Sam Black ranks fifth in school history in assists and has turned in career highs in kills, assists and blocks. Fellow senior Katrina Goncher has been limited by injuries this season and has appeared in just four matches.
Braves Take Set From UNI
Bradley didn't pick up a win against perennial Missouri Valley Conference power Northern Iowa Saturday, but the Braves did break one streak against the Panthers. BU's win in the third set against UNI ended a streak of 19 consecutive sets won by the Panthers against the Braves. Bradley's last set won against Northern Iowa came in the second set of the Braves Oct. 28, 2005 match in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Dejean Nearing Freshman Mark
Freshman Rachelle Dejean is closing in on the Bradley mark for digs by a freshman, needing 27 digs to break the current record of 383 digs set by Kathy Vaitkus in 1984. Dejean's 357 digs is the second-best total by a Bradley freshman in school history. With four matches remaining on the schedule, Dejean is on pace to finish the season with over 400 digs.
Player Year Digs MP
1. Kathy Vaitkus 1984 383 34
2. Rachelle Dejean 2008 357 28
3. Cindy Novak 1992 344 29
4. Lisa LaMontagne 1991 331 31
Ranked Opponents
Wichita State is ranked 11th in the latest AVCA Top 25. Bradley is 2-18 all-time against ranked teams, but boasts a 2-4 record against ranked squads at home. The Shockers are the highest ranked team to play in Peoria since then 10th-ranked Northern Iowa topped the Braves in three sets in the 2002 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals.
Coming On Strong
After suffering an injury in the preseason which sidelined her for the first 10 matches of the season, sophomore middle blocker Emily Austin has emerged as one of the Braves top offensive threats of late. Over the last eight matches, she is averaging 2.25 kills per set, while leading the squad with a .314 attack percentage.
Schmidt Eyeing Century Mark
Freshman middle blocker Megan Schmidt is closing in on 100 blocks in her first season on The Hilltop. She has a team-best 90 blocks on the season which ranks as the eighth-best total by a BU frosh. With four matches remaining on the schedule, she is on pace to finish the season 103 blocks which would make her just the sixth player in program history to reach 100 blocks as a frosh. Schmidt needs three kills and 10 blocks to become just the fourth player in program history with 200 kills and 100 blocks during their freshman season.
New Home Court
The Braves played their first match on campus last Saturday when Bradley played Northern Iowa at the Markin Family Student Recreation Center. The Markin Center will serve as home court for the Braves for the remainder of the 2008 season. The $25-million, 130,000-square-foot facility opened in October and features 32,000 square feet of hardwood floor, an indoor pool, racquetball courts, a rock climbing wall, running track, four basketball courts and a championship court with seating for 300 people.
Tough Home Stretch To Close
Bradley will welcome three strong opponents to its new home court to conclude the 2008 slate. The Braves final three home opponents boast a combined 67-14 (.827) record. Northern Iowa is 21-5 overall heading into this weekend's matches. 11th-ranked Wichita State (26-0 overall) will play at the Markin Center on Nov. 14, with Missouri State (20-9 overall) visiting on Nov. 15 to complete the home schedule.
Down The Stretch
Bradley is just one win short of matching its Missouri Valley Conference win total from 2007, but the Braves will have their hands full down the stretch. BU's next two conference matches are against a pair of 20-win teams and four of the last five MVC matches (including last Saturday's match against Northern Iowa) are against the top four teams in the standings. Bradley's final five conference foes have combined for a 91-40 (.695) mark so far this season.
Schmidt In Rare Air
Freshman Megan Schmidt leads the Braves in blocking with a 0.87 blocks per set average and ranks second on the team with 18 aces in addition to ranking third with 197 kills. Her 17 block solos is the fourth-best total by a Bradley freshman and the most since Joy Ostendorf had 20 block solos as a freshman in 1993. Schmidt is in even better company, however, as she is the only player in school history with 175 kills, 15 aces, 100 digs and 90 blocks as a freshman.
Player Year BS MP
1. Cheryl Christiansen 1985 38 42
2. Betsy Buckhold 1983 23 40
3. Joy Ostendorf 1993 20 29
4. Megan Schmidt 2008 17 28
Leaving On A High Note
Senior setter Sam Black is ending her career on a high note, having already posted career highs for kills (89), assists (900) and blocks (43). She will likely finish her career fifth on the Braves career assist chart and she is the sixth player in program history with 85 kills, 900 assists, 15 aces, 200 digs and 40 blocks in a season. Black is the first player to reach those figures in the same season since Sam Hardwick in 2001 and it marks just the fourth time a Bradley player has accomplished the feat over the past 18 years. She has a chance to become the fourth player in program history to post 100 kills, 1,000 assists, 15 aces, 20 digs and 40 blocks in the same year, needing 11 kills and 100 assists.
Braves Pick Up First Valley Win
Bradley earned its first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the year with a four-set win against Indiana State (Oct. 25) in the final match at Illinois Central College for the Braves. BU snapped a 10-match losing streak with the win and ended a 15-match MVC losing skid.
Braves Get Rare Come From Behind Win
The Braves four-set victory against Indiana State was a rare come-from-behind win for the Braves. Bradley entered the match with an 0-13 record when dropping the opening set of a match this season. After dropping the opening set 25-14, the Braves rallied to take the next three sets and post the first comeback win of the year. Bradley is 4-6 this year after winning the first set.
Black Takes Over Fifth On Assist Chart
Senior setter Sam Black moved into fifth place on Bradley's career assist chart at Wichita State (Oct. 18), passing Amelie Rodrigue. Black, who is on pace to become just the fifth player in program history to lead the team in assists in three different season, has 2,738 career assists heading into Friday's match against the Shockers. She already has a career-best 89 kills and is now one of five players in program history with 100 kills, 2,500 assists, 50 aces, 800 digs and 50 blocks in a career.
Career Assist Leaders
# Name Years Ast. MP
1. Michelle Pack 1992-95 4,251 110
2. Sam Hardwick 1998-2001 3,828 112
3. Ashley Vance 2002-05 3,721 117
4. Wendy Carney 1986-89 2,937 137
5. Sam Black 2005- 2,738 109
6. Amelie Rodrigue 1999-2002 2,546 116
Comiskey Cracks Top 20
Junior Kaitlyn Comiskey cracked Bradley's career top 20 for digs with her team-best 13 digs at 14th-ranked Wichita State (Oct. 18) and is now one of 21 players in program history with 800 career digs. Comiskey enters this weekend's play 18th all-time with 841 career digs. She needs 20 digs to move into 17th in school history and is 59 digs from becoming the 15th player in Bradley history with 900 career digs. Senior Sam Black joined Comiskey in the 800-dig club last Saturday and is now 21st all-time with 804 career digs.
Making Progress
While the Braves are just 1-13 in Missouri Valley Conference play this season, Bradley is certainly more competitive against its league foes. On the season, Bradley is 29-75 (.278) in sets played after going 21-87 (.194) in sets in 2007. The Braves are 14-40 (.259) in sets in Valley play this year compared with last season's 14-50 (.219) mark in league action.
Horizon League Tour Comes To An End
Last week's match at Illinois-Chicago was Bradley's fourth and final match against a member of the Horizon League. The Braves also played Loyola, Valparaiso and current Horizon League leader Wisconsin-Milwaukee earlier this season. Last season Bradley played five matches against Horizon League members going 0-5 in those matches. The Braves have now lost 11 consecutive matches to Horizon League members dating back to the 2005 season and have not won a road match against a Horizon League foe since 2004.
Three-Set Losses
After being swept 19 times in 2007, the Braves have suffered 12 three-set losses in the first 28 matches of 2008. With only four matches remaining in Missouri Valley Conference play, Bradley has been swept by a league opponent five times after getting swept 10 times in league play last fall. While the Braves have just one MVC victory under their belt so far, Bradley has pushed three of its 14 Valley matches to a deciding fifth set after playing just two five-set matches in league play in 2007.
Digging The Night Away
Freshman Rachelle Dejean helped Bradley turn in one of the best defensive efforts of the season at Western Illinois (Sept. 23), tallying 33 digs to help the Braves to a season-best 92 digs on the night against the Westerwinds. Dejean's 33 digs is tied for the fourth-best single-match effort in school history and is one of 12 30-dig efforts in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. It's the highest dig total for a Bradley player since Briony Hammet had a school record 38 digs at Evansville on Oct. 22, 2008, and is the 10th 30-dig outing in school history.
Bradley Digs In A Match
Digs Name Opponent Date
38 Briony Hammet at Evansville 10/22/05
35 Julie Penn Valparaiso 9/29/90
34 Gillian Falknor at Evansville 10/22/05
33 Rachelle Dejean at Western Illinois 9/23/08
33 Mary Kay Schmidt Valparaiso 9/29/90
31 Katy Culloton Western Illinois 9/17/88
31 Kathy Bickler Illinois State 11/23/85
Underclassmen Playing Big Roles
Using a roster which features just five upperclassmen, first-year Bradley head coach Sean Burdette knew the underclassmen would be playing important roles during the 2008 season. The younger players have stepped up the challenge and played key roles for BU in the early going. The underclassmen have combined for almost 58 percent of the Braves kills, better than 51 percent of the team's digs and nearly 57 percent of the squad's blocks this fall. An underclassman is first or second on the team in nearly every statistical category including kills (Melissa Collins - 2nd with 241), assists (Rachelle Dejean - 2nd with 45), aces (Megan Schmidt - 2nd with 18), digs (Rachelle Dejean - 1st with 357) and blocks (Megan Schmidt - 1st with 90).
Pushed To The Limit
Bradley pushed Drake (Sept. 20) to the limit before falling in the fifth set in the first meeting between the two squads. It marked the third consecutive match between the two conference rivals that went to the deciding set. The Bulldogs have won each of those three matches. Prior to the current streak, the Braves and Bulldogs had not played a five-set match since the 2000 season. It marked the 12th time the two longtime rivals played five sets. The Braves hold a 24-22 edge in the series, but 11 of BU's 22 losses have come in five-setters as Drake is now 11-1 when playing five sets against the Braves.
Braves Need Quick Starts
The first set has been the key to victory in Bradley's matches this season. The Braves are 1-17 when dropping the opening set this season, but boast a 4-6 record when claiming the first set. The Braves were 1-5 when claiming the opening set of a match in 2007.
Cave Named To All-Tournament Team
Freshman Annie Cave was named to the all-tournament team at the Northern Illinois Invitational. She entered the weekend with 19 kills on the season, but averaged 2.33 kills per set in three matches and posted 19 kills in the Braves final two matches of the tournament. Against Loyola Cave had a team-best nine kills and attacked at a .500 clip. She followed it up with a 10-kill performance against tournament-host Northern Illinois in which she hit .450. Cave hit a team-best .383 for the week.
Reichel Earns All-Tourney Honors
Junior Amy Reichel was voted to the all-tournament team at the Wingate by Wyndham Invitational after helping Bradley to a 2-1 record and second-place finish. Reichel averaged 3.58 kills and 0.42 aces per set in the three matches. She matched her then career-high with 16 kills in a four-set loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and tallied a career-best 17 kills to go along with three aces in BU's five-set win against SIU-Edwardsville. She recorded 10 kills in a three-set win against Eastern Michigan as she reached double figures in kills for a career-best fifth consecutive match.
Tough Slate
First-year Bradley head coach Sean Burdette and his young Braves will have their hands full during the 2008 season. Bradley will play 15 of 32 matches against teams which won 20 or more matches last season and have a total of nine matches against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The Braves are currently 3-9 against teams which won 20 or more matches last year. Bradley plays 11 matches against teams that finished ranked in the top 56 of the RPI.
What's Back
The Braves return eight of 12 letterwinners from last year's team, including five of the top seven attackers. Bradley did graduate its top two attackers in Nikki Pierzchala and Jenna Harrison (495 combined kills in 2007) and setter Eileen Hillary (344 assists), but bring back nearly 61 percent of the team's kills, 73 percent of the team's digs, 73 percent of the blocks, 85 percent of the aces and almost 71 percent of the team's aces from 2007.
Braves Picked Ninth In MVC Poll
Bradley was picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to a vote of league coaches. The Braves finished ninth in the final 2007 standings. Wichita State is the preseason favorite, receiving four first-place votes. Bradley received 25 points and was just nine points behind Evansville for seventh place.
2008 Preseason Coaches' Poll
Team Total
Wichita State (4) 91
Northern Iowa (2) 84
Creighton (3) 81
Missouri State (1) 73
Illinois State 67
Southern Illinois 52
Evansville 34
Drake 31
Bradley 25
Indiana State 12
Up Next
The Braves will hit the road for a pair of matches to conclude the 2008 season, playing at Drake (Nov. 21) and at Creighton (Nov. 22). Bradley holds a 24-22 lead in the all-time series but the Bulldogs have won each of the last three meetings. BU will close out the season at Creighton. The Bluejays own a 16-13 lead in the all-time series with the Braves and have won the last six meetings and 10 of the last 11 overall.
