RADFORD, Va. -- Freshman Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) recorded a match-high 15 kills and fellow freshman Skylar Lesan (Solon, Iowa/Solon) turned in her best all-around performance of her young career, finishing with six kills, 31 assists, three aces, nine digs and two blocks to lead the Bradley Volleyball Team to a 22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 victory against South Carolina State Friday afternoon in the first match of the Radford Invitational.

South Carolina State (0-5 overall) got off to a good start, hitting .333 in the opening frame.  The Bulldogs built an eight-point lead (22-14) before a 6-0 Bradley run pulled the Braves (4-2 overall) to within two points at 22-20.  Tupuritis opened the spurt with back-to-back kills and Lesan followed a Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) kill with a pair of aces to highlight the run.  South Carolina State would hang on, however, to take the first set 25-22.

After committing eight attack errors and hitting .146 as a team in the first set, Bradley regrouped in the second set to hit a blistering .400 as a team (12 kills - 2 errors - 25 attacks).  The Braves held a 16-12 advantage when another six-point BU run would put Bradley comfortably ahead 22-12.  The run included four South Carolina State attack errors and kills by senior Amy Reichel (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and sophomore Annie Cave (Easton, Ill./Illini Central) as Bradley evened the match with a convincing 25-15 win.

The third set went back and forth until Tupuritis was able to help Bradley close things out.  She found the floor with one of her match-high 15 kills to break a 20-20 tie and followed with a service ace to open a four-point Bradley spurt which gave the Braves a 24-20 advantage.  South Carolina State's Brittany Davis ended the small run with a kill, but Reichel notched her fourth kill of the frame to close out a 25-21 victory.

Bradley's play at the net in the fourth set was the difference as the Braves recorded four blocks and limited the Bulldogs to an .032 attack percentage.  South Carolina State trailed 19-15 when a Bulldog service error was followed by a block by Lesan and senior Kaitlyn Comiskey (Crystal Lake, Ill./South).  Comiskey followed another Bulldog attack error with a kill and teamed with Tupuritis on a block to push the Braves' lead to 24-15.  Tupuritis sealed the 25-15 Bradley victory with her 15th kill of the afternoon.

Tupuritis hit .294 and was the only Bradley player in double figures in kills with 15.  Cave and Reichel each added nine kills to help highlight the offensive efforts for the Braves.  Lesan finished one dig short of her second double-double of the season, collecting a team-high nine digs to go along with six kills, 31 assists, three aces and two blocks.  Lesan attacked at an impressive .857 clip, tallying six kills on just seven attack attempts.

Brittany Davis led South Carolina State with 10 kills, while Melissa Robinson led the Bulldogs' defense with 12 digs. 

Bradley returns to action later today when the Braves face Western Carolina at 6 p.m. at the Radford Invitational.