Box Score PEORIA, Ill. -- It appeared Bradley was in line for its first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the season after taking the first two sets against Drake Friday at the Markin Family Student Recreation Center, but the Bulldogs rallied to take the final three sets and top the Braves 20-25, 22-25, 25-10, 25-23, 15-10.
Senior Amy Reichel (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) collected six of her team-best 16 kills in the first set to help power Bradley to a 25-10 opening-set victory. Freshman Skylar Lesan (Solon, Iowa/Solon) served up three aces to highlight an 8-0 Bradley (9-22 overall, 0-17 MVC) run to open the first set and the Braves never looked back as BU led from start to finish in the victory.
The second set featured six lead changes and 10 ties before Bradley made a late push. Drake held a 21-20 lead, when Reichel notched her second kill of the frame. Lesan followed with her fourth ace of the match to give Bradley a 22-21 lead. Senior Kaitlyn Comiskey (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) followed a Drake kill with one of her own and back-to-back Drake attack errors closed out a 25-22 Bradley win as the Braves took a two sets to none lead.
Drake (22-10 overall, 10-7 MVC) jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and cruised to a 25-10 third-set victory. The Bulldogs hit .371 in the set and limited the Braves to a -.067 attack percentage. Alisa DeBerg Roth tallied six of her 14 kills in the third set as Drake committed just one attack error.
Bradley led through most of the fourth set and built a 21-16 lead before Drake would rally. A Drake block sparked a five-point DU surge which tied the set at 21-21. The Braves went back in front on a Reichel kill and Bradley was in front 23-22 after the teams traded points. The Bulldogs recorded their seventh block of the set to tie things at 23-23 and DeBerg Roth found the floor with a kill to give Drake at 24-23 advantage. A Bradley attack error put the finishing touches on a 25-23 Drake win as the Bulldogs forced a fifth and deciding set.
Just like the third set, Drake scored the first three points of the frame and took an early 4-1 advantage. Bradley trailed 11-6, but would trim the deficit to two points at 11-9. Reichel followed a Drake ball handling error with a kill and Comiskey and sophomore Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) combined for a block. The Braves would get no closer than 11-9, however, as Drake answered with a block and followed a Comiskey kill with another block to set up match point at 14-10. Emily Heffernen completed the come-from-behind victory for Drake with her team-high 16th kill as the Bulldogs closed out the match with a 15-10 win.
Reichel led Bradley offensively with 16 kills, while Schmidt added 10 kills of her own. Sophomore Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) paced four Bradley players in double figures with 23 digs. Comiskey and Genevieve Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) each added 17 digs and Lesan finished with 42 assists and 11 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the year.
The Braves owned an 86-77 edge in digs, but Drake outblocked Bradley 18-6 to dominate play at the net. Heffernen had 16 kills and a match-high 10 blocks to pace the Bulldogs. Alana Wittenburg anchored the Drake defensive efforts, collecting 31 digs.
Bradley closes out the season Saturday with a 7 p.m. match against Creighton at the Markin Family Student Recreation Center. Seniors Kaitlyn Comiskey, Amy Reichel and Lyndi Senkpiel will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony prior to the match against the Bluejays.
