PEORIA, Ill. -- Seniors Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) and Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) tallied 15 and 12 kills, respectively, to help power the Bradley Volleyball team to a season-opening 26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24 victory against Western Illinois to close out the first day of action at the CEFCU Classic Friday night at Renaissance Coliseum.

The Braves opened the year with a victory for the fifth consecutive year and picked up their 12th win in the last 13 matches in the series against the Leathernecks.  Angelos hit .417 in the match and collected five block assists, while moving into 20th on Bradley career kills list (824 career kills).  Tupuritis climbed up three spots on BU's career kills chart into 24th and now has 710 career kills after Friday's contest.

The opening set featured 14 ties and seven lead changes with Bradley rallying late for a 26-24 win.  The Braves trailed 24-21 before fighting off three set points to pull even at 24-24 on a Melissa Hoerber (Fulton, Mo./Fulton) ace.  Tupuritis followed a bad Western Illinois set with a kill to cap the opening set victory.

The Leathernecks led most of the second set and evened the match with a 25-22 win, despite a late 4-0 Bradley run. 

The Braves scored the first five points of the third set and hit .306 in the frame to cruise to a 25-20 victory.  Tupuritis did the bulk of her damage in the third set, collecting five of her 12 kills in the third stanza, while Angelos had four kills on just five swings to help Bradley to a two-sets-to-one lead.

Western Illinois led most of the fourth set, but Bradley made another late push and closed out the set with a 26-24 win.  The Leathernecks led by as many as five points before a 9-3 BU spurt put the Braves in front 18-17.  Western Illinois fought off match point at 24-23 to tie the score (24-24) for the ninth time in the set, before sophomore Kristie Chynoweth (Parkland, Fla./North Broward) notched one of her seven kills on the night and give Bradley a 25-24 advantage.  A Western Illinois attack error on the next point sealed the win for the Braves. 

Sophomore Jessica Teel (San Antonio, Texas/Claudia Taylor Johnson) had 24 assists and Hoerber collected 18 assists, nine digs and two aces as the pair split time at setter for Bradley.  Senior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) added a match-high 20 digs as she helped the Braves to a 68-56 advantage in digs and limit the Leathernecks to a .158 attack percentage. 

Ann Miller led Western Illinois with 18 kills, while Samantha Fournier added 11 kills and 10 digs to pace the Leathernecks. 

In the day's earlier match at the CEFCU Classic, UT-Martin swept Maryland Eastern Shore 25-17, 25-10, 25-20.

The CEFCU Classic continues Saturday, starting with Western Illinois facing UT-Martin at 10 a.m. and the second match of the day features Bradley and Maryland Eastern Shore at 12:30 p.m. at Renaissance Coliseum.  Western Illinois and Maryland Eastern Shore will square off at 5 p.m., with the Braves and UT-Martin wrapping up the tournament Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

The Saturday night matchup with UT-Martin will be Back 2 School Night and Camper Reunion Night.  The first 200 kids (ages 14 and under) receive a set of Bradley temporary tattoos.