Box Score CARBONDALE, Ill. - After taking the opening set 25-23, Bradley lost three consecutive tightly contested sets to Southern Illinois to fall 25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 23-25 to the Salukis in Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball action Friday at Davies Gym.
Senior Amy Reichel (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) led the Braves with 16 kills, while sophomore Annie Cave (Easton, Ill./Illini Central) added 10 kills with no hitting errors.
Bradley (9-15 overall, 0-10 MVC) trailed 21-20, before rallying for a 25-23 win in the opening set. Reichel notched back-to-back kills and Cave added a kill of her own to give the Braves a 23-21 lead. A bad set by SIU gave Bradley set-point at 24-21, when the Salukis pulled to within one points (24-23) after a pair of BU errors. Cave put the finishing touches on a 25-23 Bradley victory with her fifth kill of the set.
The Braves led by as many as five points in the second set and held set-point at 24-23, before SIU (15-6 overall, 4-6 MVC) rallied to pull out a late win. Bradley led 24-23 when the Salukis pulled even after a bad set by the Braves. Kills by Laura Thole and Alysia Mayes gave Southern Illinois a 26-24 win and evened the match at one set apiece.
SIU rallied again in the third set to top Bradley 25-23. The Braves held a 19-17 lead after a kill by Cave, but Rachael Brown highlighted a five-point Southern Illinois spurt with a pair of aces to give the Salukis a 22-19 advantage. Bradley scored the next two points to pull to within one point at 22-21 and eventually trailed 24-23 before an Alicia Johnson kill sealed a 25-23 SIU win.
The Braves held a 23-22 lead in the fourth set after a pair of Skylar Lesan (Solon, Iowa/Solon) kills, but the Salukis would rally again to close out the match with a 25-23 win. Johnson tied the set at 23-23 with her 19th kill of the night and Mayes gave SIU a 24-23 lead with a kill of her own. Mayes and Brown teamed for a block as the Salukis posted a second consecutive 25-23 victory.
Reichel paced the Braves with 16 kills and became the 19th player in school history to reach 800 career kills. Cave added 10 kills on 33 attacks for a .303 attack percentage. Sophomore Rachelle Dejean collected a team-best 19 digs, while Lesan finished with team-leading fourth double-double of the year (44 assists and 10 digs).
Johnson led Southern Illinois offensively with 19 digs and Jennifer Berwanger had a match-high 21 digs to go along with 16 kills.
Bradley continues its season-long three-match road swing Saturday with a 7 p.m. match at Evansville. Saturday's match against the Purple Aces will be broadcast in the Peoria area on 96.5 FM ESPN Radio with the pre-game show starting at 6:50 p.m.
