PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley couldn't keep pace with a hot hitting Illinois State squad, as the league-leading Redbirds attacked at a .333 clip and took the first round of the annual I-74 rivalry 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 Friday at Renaissance Coliseum.

Sophomore Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon) finished one kill short of matching a career-best for kills with a team-high 11 and freshman Afton Sobasky (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) tallied 13 assists and 11 digs for her team-best seventh double-double of the year to help lead the Braves.

Jaelyn Keene paced Illinois State with 11 kills on just 14 attacks for a blistering .786 attack percentage.  Emily Schneider hit .471 and collected nine kills to go with her team-best five blocks as she helped Illinois State (12-5 overall, 6-0 MVC) record nine blocks in the win.

Bradley led 7-6 in the first set when Keene notched three of her five first-set kills to highlight a 7-1 Illinois State run which gave the Redbirds a 13-8 lead.  ISU extended the advantage to as many as 11 points (21-10) and cruised to a 25-15 victory behind five kills from both Keene and Schneider.

Illinois State opened the second set with four consecutive points and jumped out to an early 8-1 lead.  Bradley was within four points (19-15) after one of Cave's six second-set kills, but Schneider would help the Redbirds pull away.  Schneider  pushed the ISU edge to 20-15 with a kill and later added a block and another kill as the Braves trailed two sets to none after a 25-17 setback in the second.

Like the second set, Bradley was in an early hole in the third after Illinois State took a 6-1 lead to open the stanza.  The BU deficit was 15-12 after a Cave kill and the Braves trailed 21-17 late in the set, before Illinois rattled off four consecutive points to complete the sweep with a 25-17 win.  Keene had a kill and block during the 4-0 spurt to end the contest as Illinois State extended its win streak to eight consecutive matches.

Sobasky and junior Lea Sack (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X) led Bradley with 11 digs each in the setback.  Junior Jessie Tulacka (Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove North) collected seven kills in her first home match of the season after missing 10 consecutive matches earlier this season due to injury. 

Bradley returns to action Saturday afternoon, hosting Indiana State in a 5 p.m. contest at Renaissance Coliseum.