PEORIA, Ill. -- After playing five of the last seven matches on the road, the Bradley volleyball team returns to Renaissance Coliseum for six of the next eight matches beginning Thursday with a 7 p.m. match against Illinois State. The Braves will also host Missouri Valley Conference foe Indiana State Friday at 7 p.m. to start a three-match homestand.
In addition to marking the start of the second half of Missouri Valley Conference play, Thursday's matchup with the Redbirds will be Bradley's annual Dig Pink game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the contest and the match will feature a special recognition for breast cancer survivors in addition to other special promotions throughout the evening.
The Braves have been accepting pledges for the Side Out Foundation's Dig Pink initiative throughout the month of October. Fans interested in making contributions should visit: http://www.side-out.org/application/ous/fundraising_page/2758
Bradley (7-11 overall, 1-8 MVC) looks to avenge a four-set loss to Illinois State (13-8 overall, 5-4 MVC) last month at Redbird Arena. The Braves took the opening set from the Redbirds, before ISU rallied to take the next three sets. BU swept Illinois State last year in the Redbirds' first visit to Renaissance Coliseum.
Fridays' matchup with Indiana State (10-10 overall, 2-7 MVC) is the second of three consecutive home matches for the Braves. Bradley fell in five sets to the Sycamores in the first Missouri Valley Conference road match of the season, after edging Indiana State in five sets last year in the final home match of the 2010 season.
BU and Indiana State have gone to five sets each of the last two matches played in Peoria and the Braves have been pushed to a fifth and deciding set a total of 18 times in 57 previous meetings with the Sycamores.
A subscription video stream will be available for both matches along with a free audio stream via BradleyBraves.com. An interactive chat will also be available on the live stats link. Tickets for both matches are $6 for adults and $3 for children.
Senior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) is coming off a season-high, 28-dig performance at Drake Saturday and needs just 13 digs to become the fourth player in program history to reach 1,300 career digs. Dejean is 43 digs from passing Sam Hardwick for third on the career digs chart and is 75 digs from breaking Jenny Pavlas' school career record to 1,361 digs.
Bradley will close out the three-match homestand Tuesday, hosting Loyola-Chicago at 7 p.m. in the final non-conference match of the season.
