PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley volleyball team closes out the 2011 regular season with a pair of crucial road matches as the Braves hope to secure their first bid to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament since 2005.
Home wins against Drake and Creighton last week moved BU into eighth place in the Valley standings, two games behind Indiana State for the sixth and final spot in next week's Valley Tournament which will be held Nov. 24-26 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Bradley (11-15 overall, 4-12 MVC) must win the final two road matches of the year; at Southern Illinois (Friday) and at Evansville (Saturday) to have a chance at the final spot in the six-team tournament. In addition, Indiana State (14-14 overall, 6-10 MVC) must lose home matches to Missouri State and Wichita State this weekend. Drake (9-22 overall, 5-12 MVC) is also in the hunt for the final spot, hosting Creighton Saturday in the team's only remaining match.
The Braves topped Southern Illinois (9-16 overall, 3-13 MVC) in five sets in the first meeting this year for BU's first September conference victory since 2005. Bradley is looking for its first victory in Carbondale, Ill., since 2003.
Evansville (13-18 overall, 3-13 MVC) and Bradley met in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams in mid-September with the Purple Aces sweeping the Braves. Despite the loss earlier this year Bradley holds a 24-16 lead in the all-time series with UE, including an 11-7 record in matches played in Evansville, Ind.
Freshman Courtney Keefe (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week twice in the last four weeks and is averaging a team-best 3.21 kills per set over her last seven matches. Keefe had a season-high 16 kills to help highlight BU's five-set win against Creighton Saturday as the Braves had five players with 10 or more kills for the first time since Sept. 21, 2007.
Bradley is coming off two of its strongest defensive performances, collecting a season-high 96 digs Saturday in the win against Creighton after holding Drake to an .016 hitting percentage on Friday night. Drake's .016 attack percentage is the lowest for a Missouri Valley Conference foe against the Braves since Evansville hit .009 on Nov. 3, 2002.
BU won four of the last five home matches to close the year with a winning home record (7-6) for the first time since 2005. BU's 11 wins overall are the most since 2005 (16-17) and Bradley's four MVC victories are the most since 2006 (5-13).
Senior Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) collected her 800th career kill and 300th career block in the final home match of her career to become the sixth player in program history with 800 kills, 50 aces, 400 digs and 300 blocks.
Fellow senior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) enters the final two regular-season matches of her career needing three digs to become the 26th player in Missouri Valley Conference history with 1,400 career digs.
Live stats for both road matches will be available at BradleyBraves.com
