Last Week
Bradley went 0-3 on the week, falling in a mid-week non-conference match against Loyola (22-25, 22-25, 19-25), before dropping Missouri Valley Conference home matches against Southern Illinois (20-25, 16-25, 12-25) and Evansville (19-25, 22-25, 25-53, 14-25). Senior Melissa Collins averaged 3.11 kills per set while hitting .247 to lead the Braves in the three matches. She collected a season-best 16 kills to pace BU in the four-set loss to Evansville.
This Week
Bradley opens a season-long, four-match road swing Friday with a 7 p.m. contest at preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite and 15th-ranked Northern Iowa. The Panthers hold a 48-9 lead in the all-time series with the Braves and UNI owns a nine-match win streak in the all-time series. BU is 1-22 against UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with Bradley's lone victory coming during the 1984 season. Bradley will play the final non-conference road match of the season Sunday when BU visits SIU Edwardsville for a 2 p.m. contest. The Braves hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with the Cougars. Sunday's game in Edwardsville, Ill., will be Bradley's first road match in the series. Both of the previous two meetings with SIUE went five sets.
Breaking Out
Senior Melissa Collins collected a season-high 16 kills Saturday against Evansville and averaged a team-leading 3.11 kills per set, while hitting .247 in three matches last week. Heading into Tuesday's match against Loyola, Collins had been averaging 1.22 kills per set and hitting .127. Her 16 kills against Evansville was her highest kill total since collecting a career-best 19 kills at Indiana State on Sept. 26, 2008. Collins recorded her 600th career kill against the Purple Aces and is 19 kills from breaking into Bradley's career top 25.
Hitting The Road
The Braves are tied with Drake for the most home matches this season in the Missouri Valley Conference with 11, but will have a heavy road schedule the rest of the way. Bradley kicks off a season-long, four-match road swing Friday at preseason league favorite and 15th-ranked Northern Iowa and will play six of the next nine matches on the road. BU concludes the season with eight of the final 14 matches on the slate away from home. The Braves have played a total of six road or neutral site matches, with those six opponents combining for a 79-34 (.699) record so far this season. Bradley's last eight road matches are against teams with a combined 90-40 (.692) record this season.
Climbing The Charts
Junior Rachelle Dejean shot up three spots on Bradley's career digs list last week into 14th place. BU's active career leader, she is the first Brave to reach the 900 career digs since Briony Hammet reached the mark during the 2005 season. Dejean has 922 career digs and needs 58 to pass Hammet for 13th on the career chart. She is 78 digs from becoming the 13th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs.
Tough Stretch
Friday's match at Northern Iowa will wrap up what is arguably the toughest nine-match stretch of the season for the Braves. Heading into the contest against UNI, which boasts a 15-2 record on the year, Bradley's last eight opponents have combined for a 96-37 (.722) record. Including UNI, the nine opponents boas an impressive 111-39 (.740) mark as of Oct. 7.
Reaching The Century Mark
Bradley's senior duo of Caitlin Staib and Melissa Collins are both nearing 100 career matches played. While Collins has played in more sets than Staib (296 compared to 274), Staib has appeared in 99 matches after an eight-kill effort Saturday against Evansville. Collins has played in 95 matches during her career on The Hilltop.
Closing In On The Top 30
Senior Melissa Collins is closing in Bradley's top 25 in career kills, but junior Megan Schmidt is close behind and is eyeing a spot in the Braves' career top 30 in kills. Schmidt is 31st in school history with 545 career kills and needs 12 more to pass Jennifer Dority for 30th on BU's career chart. She had 13 kills, while attacking at a .458 clip Saturday against Evansville.
Keeping It In State
Sunday's match at SIU Edwardsville is the fourth of five non-conference contests on the schedule against in-state opponents and the Braves have played five of nine matches against teams from the Land of Lincoln counting four Missouri Valley Conference matches against league members Southern Illinois and Illinois State. The Braves are 1-2 against in-state non-conference opponents and 1-3 overall against in-state foes. Bradley finished the 2009 season 2-2 against in-state non-conference foes and posted at least a .500 record against in-state non-conference opponents for the first time since going 3-3 in 2005. The Braves are 36-24 (.600) against in-state non-conference foes since the start of the 1995 campaign.
Braves Face Valley Favorites Early
Bradley's first two weeks of Missouri Valley Conference play pitted the Braves against four of the top five teams in the 2010 preseason coaches' poll. BU opened league play with Wichita State (picked third in the preseason poll) and followed it up with a match against Missouri State (#2 preseason pick). The second weekend of league play, Bradley faced Drake (#5 preseason pick) and Creighton (#4 preseason pick). Combined the four teams own a 50-16 (.758) overall record and 15-7 (.682) league mark.
All-Tournament Honors
Junior Megan Schmidt was named to the all-tournament team at the CEFCU Classic after averaging 2.54 kills and 0.92 blocks per set. Schmidt tallied a career-best 16 kills to go along with seven digs and three blocks against Hofstra. She followed that with a season-best five blocks against Presbyterian and tied for team-high honors with 12 kills against Valparaiso.
Youth Movement
Freshman Amy Angelos has reached double figures in kills in six of the last 12 matches and has emerged as Bradley's leader in kills, averaging 2.30 per set. Angelos has started the last 15 matches and is averaging 2.31 kills per set, while hitting .228 in her starts. Over the last 13 matches, she is averaging a team-best 2.37 kills per set. An underclassmen has not led BU in kills since Lindsay Stalzer paced the Braves as a sophomore in 2003 and a freshman has not led the team in kills since Jenny Pavlas in 1993.
Build It And They Will Come
Bradley's new $50-million facility is a hit with fans, as the Braves have drawn four of the top 20 crowds in program history through the first nine home dates in the building. In addition to drawing the largest crowd in school history for the arena opener against Western Illinois (1,752), BU has brought in the 8th-largest (754 fans vs. SEMO), 15th-largest (608 fans vs. Valparaiso) and 19th-largest (563 fans vs. Hofstra) in program history already this season. Bradley is averaging 590 fans per home match this season. The season record for average attendance is 457 set during the 1999 season.
Big Comeback Win
Bradley dropped the first two sets of it's match against Fordham on Sept. 4, before rallying to take the final three sets against the Rams. The Braves had not rallied from a two-sets-to-none deficit since rallying to top UMBC at home on Sept. 6, 2003. It marked the first time Bradley came back to win after dropping the first two sets in a road or neutral site match since rallying to beat Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind., on Sept. 10, 1999.
What's Your 20?
Freshman Amy Angelos' 20 kills against Fordham is the second-most by a freshman in the Missouri Valley Conference this season and highest output by a Bradley player this year. Angelos, who leads the team with a 2.30 kills per set average, is the first BU frosh to record 20 or more kills in a match since Marika Giguere accomplished the feat twice during the 2000 season. Giguere recorded 28 kills in a home match against Missouri State on Oct. 20, 2000.
Home Tournaments
Bradley is no stranger to hosting in-season tournaments, having hosted an in-season tournament 20 times in the last 27 years and for the second consecutive year will host a pair of tournaments this fall. The Braves have also had quite a bit of success when hosting in-season tournaments, boasting a 44-22 (.667) record in those events. Bradley has gone undefeated in its own tournament six times (1984, 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005). The Braves are 9-7 (.563) under head coach Sean Burdette in home tournaments.
Maryland Invite All-Tournament Honors
Freshman Amy Angelos and sophomore Allie Gardner were both named to the all-tournament team at the Maryland Invitational. Gardner earned all-tournament honors for the second consecutive week, while Angelos earned the distinction for the first time in her career. Angelos averaged 2.92 kills and 0.92 blocks per set, while attacking at a .295 clip during tournament play. Gardner averaged 3.25 digs per set as the duo helped Bradley to a second-place finish.
Up Next
Bradley continues a season-long, four-match road swing next Saturday with a match at Indiana State and wraps things up Sunday afternoon with a match at I-74 rival Illinois State. The Braves hold a 33-21 lead in the all-time series with the Sycamores, but Indiana State won both meetings last year and has claimed three of the last four overall. The Sycamores are 14-10 in home matches in the series. Illinois State owns a 52-12 advantage in the all-time series with Bradley and the Redbirds have won 14 consecutive matches in the series dating back to the 2003 season. Since the two squads started conference play in 1983, Illinois State owns a 22-2 home record in the series.
Welcome Home
Bradley opened its new home court with a sweep of Western Illinois on Aug. 27 in the season opener. The new 4,200-seat, $50-million facility sits on the former site of historic Robertson Memorial Field House and will serve as the permanent home for the Bradley volleyball and women's basketball teams. Following the demolition of the Field House after the 2007 season, the Braves played 10 of 13 home matches in 2008 at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym and called the Markin Family Student Recreation Center home for the 2009 campaign.
Gardner Named MVC Defensive Player of the Week
Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Allie Gardner was named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 30. In her first action as the Braves' libero, she earned a spot on the all-tournament team after averaging a Valley best 5.83 digs per set in the opening weekend of play. Gardner had a then career-best 18 digs against Western Illinois in the opener and followed it with a career-high 29 digs in Saturday's five-set win against USC Upstate. The only player in the MVC to have two outings with more than 20 digs during the first week of play, she capped the week with a 23-dig effort against Southeast Missouri State. Gardner is the first BU player to garner Valley Defensive Player of the Week honors since the award was first issued in 2007 and is the first Brave to earn any MVC weekly honor since Lindsay Stalzer captured Valley Player of the Week honors three times during the 2005 season.
New Faces
Bradley had three newcomers in the starting lineup in the season opener and a total of five newcomers have started at least one match through the first 17 contests of the year. In addition, newcomers have accounted for 50 of the team's 102 starts to date. Freshman Lauren Zerante has a team-best 16 starts to her credit and is third on the team in kills, aces and digs. Freshman middle blocker Amy Angelos has started the last 15 matches and emerged as BU's leader in kills. The Braves have also used two newcomers at setter through the first 17 matches. Marquette transfer Shelly Mueller has started 11 matches at setter and is averaging 7.91 assists and 1.22 digs per set, while junior college transfer Jennifer Sykes is averaging 7.73 assists and 1.95 digs per set.
Can You Dig It
Junior Rachelle Dejean has led the team in digs each of the last two seasons and has a chance to become the first player since Sam Hardwick to lead the squad in digs in three consecutive years. Already owning two of the top 10 single-match dig totals in BU history, Dejean's 413 digs as a freshman ranks as the 10th best season total in program history and she became the 15th player in program history to reach 900 career digs. She currently ranks second on the team with a 163 digs this season, trailing sophomore Allie Gardner by 34 digs.
Back-To-Back-To-Back?
Junior Megan Schmidt has led the team in blocks each of her first two seasons on The Hilltop and is looking to become the first player to lead the team in blocks in three consecutive years since Jenna Passman (2001, 2002 & 2003). Schmidt has a chance to join Passman and Sandi Kasting (1982, 1983 & 1984) as the only players in program history to lead the team in blocks in three different seasons. She is BU's active career leader in blocks with 222 and needs 77 blocks to move into Bradley's career top 10.
Hotels at Grand Prairie Invite All-Tournament Honors
Sophomores Madelyn Ervin and Allie Gardner each earned spots on the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational all-tournament team. Ervin led the Braves in kills in two of the three matches and averaged 2.92 kills per set to go along with her team-leading five aces. Gardner started at libero in each of the three contests and posted a Missouri Valley Conference-best 5.83 digs per set average during the opening week.
Ervin Named Scholar-Athlete of the Week
Sophomore outside hitter Madelyn Ervin was named the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week announced Aug. 31. An advertising major with a 3.78 cumulative grade point average, Ervin was named to the all-tournament team at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational after helping lead Bradley to a second-place finish. She averaged a team-best 2.92 kills per set during the three matches and also boasted a team-high five aces.
What's Back
The Braves return nine of 14 letterwinners, including four starters from last year's team, but youth still prevails on BU's roster. Bradley has nine underclassmen on the roster and 10 of the 16 team members boast one or fewer years of experience at the NCAA Division I level. Despite the prevalence of youth on the squad, BU's attack for 2010 includes five of the top six in kills from 2009 and seven of the top eight attackers from the previous year. In addition, Bradley's roster features four of the top five in digs from 2009.
Braves Picked 10th In Preseason Poll
Bradley was picked to finish 10th in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, receiving 16 of a possible 100 points. Defending regular-season and tournament champion Northern Iowa was a unanimous pick to defend its title, receiving all 10 first-place votes.
On The Internet
Live stats for all Bradley home matches can be found on the Bradley Athletics website (www.bradleybraves.com) under the Live Stats link located near the top of the page. A free audio stream for most home matches and pay-per-view video streams for all home matches will be available at www.bradleybraves.com.
Active Leaders
Senior Melissa Collins entered the 2010 season as Bradley's active career kills leader and is currently 26th all-time with 610 career kills. Junior Megan Schmidt is second among active players with 545 career kills (31st place) and needs 12 kills to break into the top 30. Junior defensive specialist Rachelle Dejean is the team's active career leader in digs with 922 and ranks 14th all-time at BU. Dejean needs 78 digs to become the 13th player in program history to reach the 1,000-dig mark.
