OMAHA, Neb. – Senior Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) tallied 17 of her career-high tying 20 kills in the final three sets to help Bradley rally for a 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 16-14 five-set victory against in-state foe SIU Edwardsville Saturday afternoon at the Omaha Marriott Classic. 

The victory snapped a three-match losing skid in five-set contests for the Braves, who improved to 4-1 on the season with the win.  Angelos tied a career-high of 20 kills, which she set as a freshman almost three years to the day (20 kills vs. Fordham on Sept. 4, 2010).  Junior Allie Falter (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X) was the only other Bradley player to reach double figures in kills, finishing one short of career high with 11. 

Bradley forced 13 SIU Edwardsville (2-4 overall) attack errors in the opening set and limited the Cougars to a -.043 attack percentage in the frame in a convincing 25-19 victory.  With the Braves holding a 21-18 advantage, sophomore Jessie Tulacka (Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove North) helped seal the victory with a block and kill down the stretch.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set and the score was knotted at 23-23 after an Angelos kill, but SIUE closed the set on a pair of BU attack errors and pulled even in the match with a 25-23 win. 

The third set was also tight throughout with the Cougars pulling even at 20-20 on a kill to open a 4-0 SIUE spurt.  SIU Edwardsville scored six of the final eight points of the frame en route to a 25-22 victory, despite seven kills from Angelos in the set.

Angelos helped Bradley take control of the fourth set midway through the stanza, sparking the Braves to a 25-20 win to force a deciding fifth set.  Bradley held a 16-15 lead when an Angelos kill started a 6-0 BU run.  She would go on to add a kill and another block during the spurt.

SIUE led for most of the fifth set and held a 12-11 advantage before another Angelos kill pulled the Braves even.  The teams traded points on attack errors before the 20th kill of the day from Angelos put Bradley in front 14-13.  The teams traded points again on kills before the 41st SIUE attack error of the contest sealed the set 16-14 and match for the Braves.

Senior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) tallied a season-best 26 digs and reached the 900 dig mark for her career.  Sophomore setter Jessica Teel (San Antonio, Texas/Claudia Taylor Johnson) added her third career double-double, finishing with 30 assists and 14 digs to help pace Bradley.  In addition to her 20 kills, Angelos added seven blocks and helped Bradley to its highest block total (11.0) in a match since an 11-block outing against Saint Louis last September (9/4/12).

SIU Edwardsville had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Kristen Torre's 17 kills, while setter Mallory Mangun collected 51 assists and 17 digs.

Bradley closes out play at the Omaha Marriott Classic later this afternoon with a 5 p.m. match against tournament-host Omaha.