PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley volleyball team closes out the 2012 season Saturday with a 7 p.m. match at preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Braves and Panthers will conclude the regular season against each other for the first time since 2006 and seventh time overall.
Bradley (9-19 overall, 3-13 MVC) can finish as high as tied for seventh in the final Valley standings with a victory Saturday, while UNI is still in contention for a share of the regular-season Valley title. The Panthers will be the #2 seed in next week's MVC Tournament, but can tie Creighton atop the standings with a victory and a pair of Bluejay road losses at Wichita State and Missouri State this weekend.
Bradley All-Access subscribers will be able to watch Saturday's matchup with UNI (23-8 overall, 14-3 MVC) through BradleyBraves.com, which will also provide a link to live stats.
The Braves are accustomed to ending the season on the road, doing so for the fourth time in the last five years. BU is looking to end the regular season with a victory for the first time since 2004 and Bradley is also looking to close the regular season with a road win for the first time since 2001.
Northern Iowa has won 14 consecutive matches in the series, dating back to a Bradley sweep on Sept. 30, 2005, and the Panthers have claimed 24 consecutive home matches against the Braves going back to a four-set BU victory on Oct. 27, 1984 in BU's first match in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Saturday's match will mark the final contest for seniors Madelyn Ervin (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) and Jessica McNellis (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South). Ervin will likely be appearing in her 100th career match and needs three kills to move into 29th in career kills at Bradley. The sixth player in school history to have two seasons with 35 or more aces, Ervin is 10 kills from passing Sandi Kasting for 28th on the all-time kills list.
Junior Lauren Zerante (Elmhust, Ill./York) has averaged 5.10 digs per set in Missouri Valley Conference play and is eight digs from becoming just the fourth player in school history to collect 500 digs in a season. Zerante's 321 digs in conference action ranks as the highest season total in program history, surpassing the previous Valley season mark of 307 digs set by Gillian Falknor in 2005.
In addition to those milestones, sophomore Courtney Keefe (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) heads into the final match of the year looking to become the 11th Brave and just the sixth underclassmen to tally 200 kills and 300 digs in a season. Keefe needs one kill and eight digs to reach the marks last accomplished by Kelly Niemeyer in 2006. Lindsay Chang was the last underclassmen to top 200 kills and 300 digs, doing so as a sophomore in 1998.
Junior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) has a team-best 303 kills this fall, for the most kills by a Bradley individual since Amber DeBroux had 361 kills in 2006. Tupuritis is eight kills from becoming the 27th player in school history to reach 700 career kills and can climb three spots on the all-time kills list to 24th with 18 kills.
Junior middle blocker Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) is also closing in on the 300-kill mark for the year, needing six kills to reach 300. Angelos, who recorded her 800th career kill Saturday with a season-best 17 at Southern Illinois, is 12 kills from breaking into the top 20 all-time at Bradley.
