PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) had 11 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Kristi Chynoweth (Parkland, Fla./North Broward) boasted a .692 attack percentage and added 10 kills as the duo helped Bradley to a 25-20, 25-12, 25-23 sweep of Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for the Braves Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley (7-3 overall, 1-0 MVC) is 7-3 to start a season for the first time since 2002 (12-3) and the Braves ended a seven-match losing streak in conference openers which dated back to a win at Creighton to open the 2005 Valley slate with Sunday's victory against the Bulldogs (2-11 overall, 0-2 MVC).

A balanced Bradley attack highlighted the opening set 25-20 win, with four different Braves tallying three kills in the first stanza.  Chynoweth had three kills on just four swings and Tupuritis had three of her team-high 11 kills and six digs in the first set.  Bradley trailed 13-11 when Chynoweth and sophomore Jessie Tulacka (Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove North) each had two kills to highlight a 6-0 spurt which put the Braves in front 17-13 and BU went on to take the opener.

Bradley hit .290 in the second set and senior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) recorded eight of her match-high 14 digs to help highlight a convincing 25-12 BU win.  In addition to Zerante's second-set efforts, Bradley had four blocks in the second set as Drake had six kills and nine attack errors in the frame.  With the Braves holding a 13-7 lead, Tupurutis had a block, kill and ace during a 10-2 run which put things out of reach for the Bulldogs.

Drake hit .294 in the third set and led 23-22, but Bradley came up with a pair of blocks down the stretch to rally.  Tulacka and senior Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) combined for a block to pull BU even (23-23) and freshman Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon) had a solo block to give the Braves a 24-23 advantage.  Chynoweth put the finishing touches on the win with her 10th kill of the afternoon to tie a career high.

In addition to her 11 kills and 12 digs, Tupuritis added two aces and a pair of blocks.  Sophomore Jessica Teel (San Antonio, Texas/Claudia Taylor Johnson) served up a career-best three aces to go with her 20 assists and five digs, while freshman Melissa Hoerber (Fulton, Mo./Fulton) had an ace to push her streak of matches with an ace to seven along with tallying 12 assists and four digs. 

Amande Platte led Drake with 12 kills and libero Sarah Madden collected 10 digs in the loss for the Bulldogs.  Bradley had a 54-37 advantage in digs in the contest and controlled play at the net, outblocking Drake eight to two.

Bradley will play its first MVC road match of the year Friday at Southern Illinois (7 p.m.).