PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley volleyball head coach Sean Burdette will be returning home when the Braves take part in the Maryland Invitational Friday and Saturday in College Park, Md. The Braves open tournament play against Big East Conference member Georgetown Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT) and face tournament-host Maryland Saturday at 11:30 a.m. BU wraps up the weekend Saturday afternoon against Fordham at 3:30 p.m.
Burdette is certainly familiar with the University of Maryland, having grown up in nearby Silver Spring, Md., and frequently practiced on campus with his junior club team. He also coached in the state of Maryland, serving as associate head coach at Towson University during the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.
The Braves (2-2 overall) look to rebound from a three-set loss at Northern Illinois Tuesday in the first road match of the season. Bradley opened up the season with back-to-back victories against Western Illinois and USC Upstate before falling to Southeast Missouri State Saturday night in what turned out to be the championship match of the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational.
Sophomores Allie Gardner (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) and Madelyn Ervin (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) were both named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational. Gardner, who led the Missouri Valley Conference with a 5.83 digs per set average during the opening week of play, was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Week. Ervin was named the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week after leading the Braves in both kills and aces.
Bradley's trip to the state of Maryland is third in program history, but first since 1990. The Braves are 2-0 all-time against Georgetown, but have not faced the Hoyas since the team's first trip to the Old Line State during the 1985 campaign. BU boasts a 3-1 record against tournament-host Maryland, which includes a 1-1 record in matches played in College Park, Md. The two teams last met in the 1999 season opener at Penn State. Saturday's match against Fordham will be the first meeting between the two programs.
Live stats for each of this weekend's matches will be available via the University of Maryland website. A free video stream for Saturday's 11:30 a.m. match against Maryland will also be available at www.umterps.com
