OMAHA, Neb. – Senior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) was one of three Bradley players to reach double figures in kills (13) and added 13 digs for her first double-double of the year as she helped lead the Bradley volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 victory against Southern Utah Friday afternoon at the Omaha Marriott Classic.

While Tupuritis had a match-high 13 kills, the duo of senior Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) and sophomore Jessie Tulacka (Wesmont, Ill./Downers Grove North) each had 10 kills and combined to attack at a .415 clip to pace the Braves, who improved to 3-1 on the year.

Bradley never trailed in the opening set, but needed to rally late to pull out the victory against the Thunderbirds (0-5 overall).  Southern Utah pulled even at 22-22 on a block, before freshman Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon) gave BU a 23-22 lead on a kill.  Sophomore Jessica Teel (San Antonio, Texas/Claudia Taylor Johnson) and Tulacka followed up with kills of their own to finish off a 25-22 Bradley win.

Tupuritis took over the second set, finding the floor with eight of her match-high 13 kills and also added eight digs in the frame.  With Bradley holding a 16-12 advantage in the stanza, Tupuritis followed a Tulacka kill with a pair of her own to push the Braves' lead to 19-12.  She added two more kills down the stretch as Bradley cruised to a 25-16 victory.

In the third set, Angelos had a kill and two blocks to highlight a 6-1 BU spurt which put the Braves in front 19-13.  She added another kill and freshman Melissa Hoerber later served up consecutive aces to help Bradley complete the sweep with a 25-17 win.  The Braves hit just .205 in the opening set, but combined for a .356 attack percentage in the final two sets.

Teel finished with 23 assists and a pair of kills, while Hoerber had 21 assists, seven digs and two aces to help highlight a Bradley offensive attack which hit .299.  Senior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) tallied a match-high 16 digs.

Mikayla Dunford paced Southern Utah with 11 kills.

Bradley continues play at the Omaha Marriott Classic Saturday with contests against SIU Edwardsville (1 p.m.) and tournament-host Omaha (5 p.m.).