PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley volleyball team opens a three-match homestand Friday against 13th-ranked Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves will play the next three matches at home before closing out the regular season with a pair of road matches Nov. 19 & 20.
Bradley (6-20 overall, 1-12 MVC) picked up its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season last Friday at Evansville, topping the Purple Aces in four sets and also closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a home sweep of Chicago State to go 2-1 last week. Friday's matchup with the Panthers will be the Braves first at Renaissance Coliseum against a ranked team and first home match against a ranked team since 11th-ranked Wichita State played at the Markin Family Student Recreation Center on Nov. 14, 2008.
Junior Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) averaged 2.82 kills per set and hit .309 in Bradley's last three matches as she recorded her 600th career kill Saturday at Southern Illinois. Junior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) has averaged 5.40 digs per set in the last four matches and recorded her 1,000th career dig last Tuesday against Chicago State.
Northern Iowa (22-2 overall, 13-0 MVC) brings a 17-match win streak into Friday's contest and the Panthers are a perfect 13-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. UNI has won 31 consecutive regular-season Missouri Valley Conference matches and Northern Iowa's only two losses this season have come at the hands of top 25 teams.
Fans attending any of Bradley's final three home matches are encouraged to pick up a pledge form on the concourse at Renaissance Coliseum to support the Braves' annual Dig for the Cure initiative. Donations will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. For more information or to obtain a pledge form, please contact Mary Lou Janssen at (309) 677-3617 or mlj@bradley.edu.
Single game tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children and available at the Renaissance Coliseum ticket office. Bradley students, faculty and staff are free with valid ID. For more information please call (309) 677-2625.
Parking for all Bradley home volleyball contests is free at the Main Street Parking Deck located just west of the arena at the corners of Main Street & Maplewood.
Live stats for the match will be available at the link provided above or at the Live Stats link on the Bradley Athletics website (www.BradleyBraves.com). A subscription video stream and free audio stream will also be available at the Live Event link on the Bradley Athletics website.
