Box Score COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Bradley rallied to pull out a victory after dropping the first two sets of a match for the first time since 2003, taking the final three sets against Fordham Saturday afternoon to wrap up play at the Maryland Invitational. The Rams took the opening two sets from the Braves 29-27 and 25-21, before BU rallied to win the final three sets by the scores of 25-22, 25-15 and 15-13.
Bradley (4-3 overall) held a 16-13 lead in the first set, but Fordham (4-3 overall) used an 8-1 run to take a 21-17 lead. The Braves trailed 24-20, when freshman Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) highlighted a 4-0 BU spurt with a pair of kills as Bradley pulled even at 24-24. The Braves had set point at 26-25 following a Melissa Collins (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) block, but the Rams answered with two straight to take a 27-26 lead. Another Angelos kill, her sixth of the set, knotted things at 27-27; but a BU service error and Fordham block gave the Rams a 29-27 win.
The Braves led by as many as six points in the second set (12-6) and held an 18-14 advantage, before Fordham made a push. Katie Wells collected three kills and a block assist to help the Rams to an 8-1 run and give Fordham a 22-19 lead. Bradley would trim the deficit to two points, but got no closer as the Rams took a two-sets-to-none lead with a 25-21 victory.
Bradley scored the first three points of the third set and never trailed in the frame as the Braves avoided a sweep with a 25-22 win. BU capitalized on three aces and two blocks in the early moments of the set to build an 8-2 lead. Fordham eventually pulled even with Bradley (21-21), but the Braves closed out the set on a pair of Ram attack errors and a Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) kill.
BU forced a deciding fifth set with a commanding 25-15 fourth-set victory. The Braves broke open a two-point lead (7-5) with five consecutive points, behind three kills from Angelos. The BU lead was pushed to as many as 11 points as Bradley hit .387 in the frame and cruised to the win. Angelos highlighted Bradley's 25-15 win with five kills and a block.
Angelos once again helped the Braves to the win in the fifth set, notching six kills in the frame. She scored five consecutive points for BU early in the set and came through with a late kill to tie things up at 13-13. A Fordham attack error put Bradley in front 14-13 and Zerante put the finishing touches on the come-from-behind victory with a kill to cap a 15-13 BU victory.
The win was Bradley's first when dropping the first two sets of a match since rallying to top UMBC at home on Sept. 6, 2003. Angelos tallied a team season-best 20 kills to go along with a season-best five blocks in the victory. Junior Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) added 12 kills and two aces, while boasting a .393 attack percentage. Zerante was also in double figures, tallying 10 kills and 12 digs for her team-leading second double-double of the year.
Junior Allie Gardner (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) tied for match high honors with 19 digs and junior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) turned in a season-best 15 digs as she became the 22nd player in program history to reach 800 career digs.
Bradley finished second in the tournament with a 2-1 record to host Maryland (3-0). Angelos and Gardner were both named to the all-tournament team.
Christi Griffiths led Fordham with 16 kills, while Katie Wells added 15 kills and five blocks to lead the Rams. Fordham had four players reach double figures in kills, but committed 13 service errors in the contest.
Bradley will host the CEFCU Classic Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11 at the new on campus arena. The tournament begins Friday at 4 p.m. with Valparaiso taking on Presbyterian and the Braves wrap up the first day of play with a 7 p.m. match against Hofstra.
