PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley volleyball team opened a three-match home stand with a three-set loss to I-74 rival Illinois State, falling to the Redbirds 25-19, 27-25, 25-19 Thursday at Renaissance Coliseum.  Senior Annie Cave (Easton, Ill./Illini Central) paced the Braves with 10 kills and hit at a .400 clip in the setback.

Illinois State (14-8 overall, 6-4 MVC) used strong play at the net and tough serving to keep Bradley (7-12 overall, 1-9 MVC) out of system most of the night.  The Redbirds collected four blocks in each of the final two sets, closing out the night with a 9-5 blocking edge and ISU served up five aces with just two service errors in the victory.

The Braves led early on in the opening set, before Illinois used a 6-0 run to take a 15-11 lead and put the set out of reach with a 4-1 spurt later in the frame en route to a 25-19 win.  ISU hit .306 in the first set with Shannon McGlaughlin tallying five of her match-high 12 kills in the opener.

The second set featured five lead changes and 13 ties before Illinois State rallied for a 27-25 victory.  Bradley trailed 21-18 when kills by Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan), Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) and Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) pulled BU even at 21-21. 

Cave broke a 23-23 tie with a kill to give the Braves set point at 24-23, but McGlaughlin answered with back-to-back kills for ISU to put the Redbirds in front 25-24.  Cave found the floor with her third kill of the frame to tie things up at 25-25, before a BU service error and LeighAnn Hranka kill sealed the 27-25 ISU win.

Hranka and Kristin Stauter helped power Illinois State to a 25-19 victory in the third set to complete the sweep.  Hranka had four kills on eight swings and also had three blocks, while Stauter collected two kills an ace and eight assists to help the Redbirds hit .360 in the frame.  With ISU holding a 15-18 advantage, Stauter followed up a kill and block by Hranka with a kill of her own to push the lead to 21-15.  Stauter capped off the night with a kill, her sixth of the night, to close out the match.

Four Bradley players finished with nine or more kills, led by Cave's 10 kills.  Angelos, Schmidt and Tupuritis each added nine kills in the loss.  Senior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) came up with a team-leading 12 digs to push her career dig total to 1,299.

McGlaughlin paced Illinois State with a match-high 12 kills, while Hranka added 11 kills, 13 digs and four blocks.  Stauter had six kills on seven attacks to go along with 33 assists, six digs and an ace.  Jenny Menendez tallied a match-best 15 digs to help the Redbirds to a 52-45 advantage in digs.

Bradley continues a three-match home stand Friday with a 7 p.m. match against Indiana State at Renaissance Coliseum.