Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Bradley Volleyball Opens 2016 Season In Milwaukee

ESPN3(Milwaukee Match Only)

Volleyball 8/25/2016 11:30:00 AM

Game Notes	ESPN3	Live Stats	Meet The Freshmen Video
		Pepsi Invitational Preview (Video)

PEORIA, Ill. – After two weeks of practice, Bradley Volleyball will open its 43rd season of intercollegiate competition this weekend, traveling to Milwaukee, Wis., for the Pepsi Panther Invitational Friday and Saturday.

The Braves open the season Friday at 12:30 p.m. against tournament-host Milwaukee as first-year head coach Carol Price-Torok makes her debut on the Bradley bench. Friday's season opener against the Panthers will be available on ESPN3.

The opening weekend of play features two other matches, with the Braves slated to face in-state foe Western Illinois Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Akron Saturday at 11 a.m. Links to live stats for all three contests will be available at BradleyBraves.com

All three weekend opponents are familiar ones for Bradley, with the Braves holding leads in two of the three all-time series. A five-set victory at Milwaukee in 2012 gave Bradley an 8-7 lead in the series with the Panthers. The Braves are 25-19 all-time against Western Illinois, which includes a 12-2 advantage since 1997. Friday's match marks just the second neutral site meeting between Bradley and the Leathernecks in the last 31 years. Akron holds a 2-1 edge in the series with the Braves, with the squads splitting two neutral site matches in 1988 (Akron win at Butler) and 1999 (Bradley victory at Penn State).

Bradley has made a habit of getting off to good starts lately with the Braves winning the season opener in six of the last seven years. In fact, six of the last seven seasons have resulted in Bradley opening the year with a 2-0 mark with the lone exception during that stretch coming in 2014. The Braves are 23-19 in season-opening matches, which includes a 6-7 mark when playing the season opener on an opponent's home floor.

The three games in Milwaukee kicks off a season-opening stretch of 13 straight road or neutral site contests and marks the first stretch of 13 consecutive road/neutral site outings since a 14-match stretch in 1985.

A bulk of the offensive production from 2015 returns for the Braves in 2016, with the returning players combining for over 80 percent of the squad's kills last fall. In fact, Bradley's returners tallied 60 percent of the team's aces and nearly 70 percent of the blocks from 2015.

Overall, Bradley's roster features the top three individuals in kills from last year and five of the top six. Sophomore Erica Haslag (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias Catholic) had the fourth most kills by a Bradley freshman with a team-best 295 and combined with fellow sophomore Allison Turner (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) for the second most kills (513 kills) by a freshman duo in program history last fall.

Junior Jamie Livaudais (Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit) is the team's active career kills leader with 414 and is just the fourth Brave in the last 10 years with 400 kills prior to the start of their junior year. She is the 12th Brave to reach 400 kills as an underclassman in the last 25 seasons.

Bradley also looks to benefit from the play of senior middle blocker Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon), who missed one-third of the 2015 campaign. Cave returned for the final 11 matches of 2015 to hit .318 with a 2.00 kills-per-set average during that closing stretch.

Following the weekend trip to Milwaukee, the Braves make their first trip to North Dakota for the North Dakota State Classic in Fargo, N.D., Sept. 2 & 3. Bradley opens tournament play Friday, Sept. 2 with a 12:30 p.m. matchup against in-state foe Northern Illinois.

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