Volleyball Heads To Kansas City For Kangaroo Klassic

Ricky Bassman

Volleyball 9/8/2016 12:46:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball travels to Kansas City, Mo., for the second consecutive year, taking part in UMKC's Kangaroo Klassic Friday and Saturday at the Swinney Recreation Center.

The Braves (3-4 overall) faced two of the weekend's three opponents during last year's Kangaroo Klassic, with Nebraska-Omaha and tournament-host UMKC both on the slate again. Bradley opens the tournament Friday at 10 a.m. against Nebraska-Omaha, with the Braves holding a 3-2 edge in the all-time series.

Friday's action also includes the first match against a school from the Ivy League in program history, with Bradley taking on Cornell in a 5:30 p.m. tilt to wrap up the first day of competition. Saturday's 1:30 p.m. contest against UMKC marks the third consecutive year the Braves and Kangaroos will face each other. UMKC has a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series, but Bradley's lone win in the series came in Kansas City in 1992.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three matches at the Kangaroo Klassic and a subscription video stream of Saturday's matchup with UMKC will be available for purchase at http://www.umkckangaroos.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPSID=96369&SPID=10795&DB_LANG=C&db_oem_id=18300

A sweep at South Dakota State Sunday wrapped up the busiest stretch of the season as the Braves are halfway to last season's win total through seven matches. The sweep was the third of the young season, marking the most three-set victories in a season for Bradley since sweeping six contests in 2013.

Sophomore Erica Haslag (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias Catholic) averaged 3.54 kills per set in Bradley's four matches last week and is averaging a team-best 3.46 kills per set on the year. Her season-best 18 kills in Sunday's win at South Dakota State won one kill short of matching the school record for kills in a three-set match under the current 25-point format of 19 set by Megan Schmidt on Sept. 13, 2013 against Youngstown State.

Haslag has reached double figures in kills in five of seven outings this season and has had eight or more kills in every contest this fall. She is the only player to rank in the top 10 in the Missouri Valley Conference in both kills and aces per set through matches of Sept. 5.

Senior Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon) also ranks among the league leaders in hitting percentage and is currently second in the MVC attacking at a .388 clip. Cave earned all-tournament honors at last weekend's North Dakota State Classic and along with Haslag and junior Taylor Thiele (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) is part of a trio of Braves nearing 400 career kills.

Thiele is the closest to notching 400 career kills and moving into the top 50 in career kills on The Hilltop with 386 kills during her time at Bradley. Haslag has collected 378 kills and needs just 22 more kills in her next four matches to become just the fifth player in program history to record 400 kills in their first 40 contests as a Brave. Cave is averaging 2.92 kills per set this season and enters the weekend with 357 kills in her career.

Following the Kangaroo Klassic, Bradley will take part in the Indiana State Tournament in Terre Haute, Ind., Sept. 16 & 17. The Braves will face Indiana State in their conference opener Friday, Sept. 16, before taking on Western Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 17 in the final non-conference match of the year.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Kelsey Cave: MB; 6' 2"; Senior

#3 Erica Haslag: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#13 Taylor Thiele: OH; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#6 Kelsey Cave
: 6' 2"; Senior
: MB

#3 Erica Haslag
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: OH

#13 Taylor Thiele
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OH

Volleyball Heads To Kansas City For Kangaroo Klassic

Players Mentioned

#6 Kelsey Cave

#3 Erica Haslag

#13 Taylor Thiele

Players Mentioned

#6 Kelsey Cave

#3 Erica Haslag

#13 Taylor Thiele