MISSOULA, Mont. -- First-year Bradley volleyball head coach Sean Burdette knew his team was going to have its hands full missing two returning starters for the season opener against Gonzaga Friday. The Bulldogs capitalized on the Braves misfortune by sweeping BU 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 during the opening day of play at the Montana Invitational.

Gonzaga hit .345 as a team, while the shorthanded Braves mustered an .051 attack percentage without senior Katrina Goncher (Batavia, Ill./Rosary) and sophomore Emily Austin (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) in the lineup because of injuries.

The Bulldogs raced out to an early 17-2 lead in the opening set, before the Braves rallied to pull to within five points at 22-17. Gonzaga sandwiched a pair of kills around a Bradley attack error to claim the opening set 25-18.

Gonzaga heated up in the second set, hitting .333 and cruised to a 25-16 win to take a 2-0 lead. Elenia Renius found the floor with five of her match-high 12 kills during the second frame to lead the Bulldogs offensively.

The Braves turned in their best offensive effort in the third set, but so did Gonzaga as the Bulldogs attacked at a .500 clip and closed out the match with a 25-17 win. Junior Kaitlyn Comiskey (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) notched her third kill of the frame to pull Bradley to within one point at 15-14 when Gonzaga made a run. Four Bradley errors and two Gonzaga kills helped the Bulldogs take a commanding 21-14 lead. Renius took control of the match down the stretch for Gonzaga, playing a part in six of the Bulldogs' final seven points (four kills and two block assists) and finished the set with six kills.

Freshman Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) started in her first collegiate match and tied sophomore Melissa Collins (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) for team high honors with six killls to lead Bradley. Schmidt hit a team-best .263 and also added two block assists. Freshman Annie Cave (Easton, Ill./Illini Central) also started in her first match as a Brave and posted four kills. Senior setter Sam Black (Atalissa, Iowa/West Liberty) and freshman Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) tied for team-high honors with six digs each.

The Braves return to action Saturday with a pair of matches at the Montana Invitational beginning with a 10 a.m. (CDT) match against tournament-host Montana. Bradley concludes tournament-play with a 3 p.m. match against UC Riverside.