AKRON, Ohio -- Sophomore Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) tallied a season-high 16 kills and fellow sophomore Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) had nine kills on just 16 attacks to help power Bradley to a three-set sweep (25-18, 26-24, 28-26) of Canisius Friday morning in the first match of the Akron Invitational. 

The Braves (3-1 overall) started a season with a 3-1 record for the first time since 2009, while the loss was the first of the year for Canisius and dropped the Golden Griffins to 3-1 on the season.

An all-tournament at last week's CEFCU Classic, Tupuritis continued her hot play by recording five kills on six swings in the opening set to help Bradley (3-1 overall) take the frame 25-18.  Canisius attack errors down the stretch helped BU take control of the first set. 

A Madison Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) kill started an 8-0 Bradley run which was fueled by five Golden Griffin attack errors.  Tupuritis followed a Kamp ace with a kill to give the Braves a 22-10 advantage as BU cruised to the opening set win.

Bradley rallied from behind to claim the second set 26-24.  Canisius took the lead midway through the set and held a 23-22 advantage late in the frame when the Braves made a late push.  Angelos and senior Annie Cave (Easton, Ill./Illini Central) combined for a block to pull BU even at 23-23. 

A Golden Griffin attack error gave BU a 24-23 lead, but Canisius pulled even at 24-24 on a Danielle Brawn kill.  Cave found the floor with her third kill of the set to put Bradley back in front (25-24) and a Canisius attack error on the next play put the finishing touches on a 26-24 BU victory.

The third set went back and forth, featuring seven lead changes, 16 ties and four set points before Bradley sealed the match with a 28-26 win.  Freshman Courtney Keefe (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) helped BU hold off the first of three Canisius set points with a kill to pull Bradley even at 24-24. 

A Golden Griffin attack error later made it 25-25 and an Allie Falter (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Pius X) kill knotted the score at 26-26, before Keefe served up back-to-back aces to close out the 28-26 win. 

The Braves matched a season-high with eight aces and limited Canisius to a .186 attack percentage.  Tupuritis finished one kill short of matching a career-high, recording a season-best 16 kills in the victory.  Angelos added nine kills, two aces and two blocks, while hitting .500.  Senior Genevieve Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) led Bradley's defensive effort with 10 digs, while Kamp collected 32 assists, five kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace to help pace the Braves.

Brawn led Canisius with 12 kills and 12 digs.  Emily Elek was the only other Golden Griffin player with more than five kills, finishing with nine.

Bradley returns to action later today at the Akron Invitational, facing tournament-host Akron at 6 p.m. (CDT).