WICHITA, Kan. – Senior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) tallied a team-high 11 kills and had 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the year, but Jessica Whitehead had a match-high 25 kills to pace three Southern Illinois players in double figures as the Salukis topped the Braves 26-24, 26-28, 25-23, 25-15 Thursday in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Bradley (13-15 overall) led  by as many as seven points in the opening set, using a 5-0 spurt midway through the frame to build a 14-7 lead.  Southern Illinois chipped away at the BU advantage with Whitehead tallying four consecutive kills.  The Braves fought off set point at 23-24 with Rachel Jones (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) notching a kill, but back-to-back Elly Braaten kills gave SIU the set 26-24.  Whitehead led SIU with seven kills in the first set.

Southern Illinois (19-12 overall) led 24-20 in the second set, before Tupuritis helped key a 5-0 Bradley run.  The Braves fought off four consecutive SIU set points, with Tupuritis opening the spurt with a kill.  She followed with a block and another kill as Bradley went in front 25-24.  With the Braves trailing 26-25, Madison Kamp came up with a big kill to tie it up at 26-26.  Allie Falter (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X) and Melissa Hoerber (Fulton, Mo./Fulton) teamed for a block to give BU a 27-26 lead and a SIU attack error closed out a 28-26 Bradley win.

The Braves led 20-19 in the third set, when SIU stormed back with four straight points.  Braaten and Taylor Pippen combined for a block and each added a kill during the spurt which put the Salukis in front 23-20.  With SIU holding set point at 24-21, Tupuritis notched her 10th kill and a Southern Illinois attack error trimmed the SIU edge to 24-23.  Whitehead found the floor with her 21st kill of the match, however, to close out a 25-23 win for the Salukis.

The Salukis took control of the fourth set with five consecutive points to open a 10-2 run.  A Whitehead kill opened the spurt, which included four Bradley attack errors.  SIU went on to finish the match with a 25-15 victory in the fourth.  Southern Illinois will face #2 seed Northern Iowa Friday at 5 p.m. in the tournament semifinals.

Tupuritis had 11 kills and 11 digs, while junior Madison Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) tied a career-high with 10 kills.  Jones added nine kills, while attacking at a .600 clip and sophomore Jessie Tulacka (Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove North) also added nine kills in the setback.

Senior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) finished with a team-high 16 digs for the Braves and closed the year with 543 digs for the second-best season dig total in school history.  Stacy Besjak owns the Bradley season dig mark with 606 in 1985.  Zerante closed out her career in fourth on the BU career digs list with 1,343 as she passed Sam Hardwick with her 16-did effort against the Salukis.

Whitehead had 15 of her 25 kills in the first two sets and finished with a match-high 25 kills to pace Southern Illinois.  Braaten and Meg Viggars each added 10 kills to help lead the Salukis.