Volleyball Returns Home To Wrap Up Busy Stretch

Barathwaj Rudraboina

Volleyball 10/4/2017 12:15:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball will play its first eight Missouri Valley Conference matches of 2017 in an 18-day span, returning to Renaissance Coliseum for a two-match home stand which includes matchups with MVC newcomer Valparaiso (Friday) and Loyola (Saturday) before kicking off a four-match road swing Monday night at Evansville.

Fresh off completing a three-match road swing Saturday at Drake, which opened a stretch in which the Braves will play seven of nine MVC matches on the road, Bradley will host Valparaiso Friday at 7 p.m. in the first meeting between the two as conference foes. Friday's contest features two of the top defensive units in the nation with Valparaiso leading the nation in digs per set at 20.31 and Bradley ranking eighth in the country through Oct. 1 at 18.08 digs per set.

Second-year Bradley head coach Carol Price-Torok will have a pre-match "Chalk Talk" before Saturday's 7 p.m. tilt with Loyola at 6:30 p.m. in the Zobrist Room. The Braves will play just four home matches in October for the team's fewest home October contests since 2014 (3) with Saturday's match concluding a stretch of 12 of 15 matches at Renaissance Coliseum.

After wrapping up the home stand Saturday night, Bradley will play its final midweek match of the season Monday at Evansville (7 p.m.) to kick off a four-match road swing. The Braves last played four straight MVC road matches in 1995 and are in the middle of playing seven of nine on the road, marking just the sixth time in league history a team has played seven of nine Valley games away from home. The teams have split the last six matchups in the series and Bradley is 11-13 in road matches all-time against the Purple Aces.

Friday's match against Valparaiso and Monday's contest at Evansville will both be available on ESPN3 as part of The Valley On ESPN3 and can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

Sophomore Hannah Angeli had 35 assists, 14 digs, two aces and two kills Saturday at Drake as she collected her team-leading 13th double-double of the year. Angeli needs 25 assists for the most assists in a season by a Bradley player since 2011. Already the first Brave with at least 13 double-doubles since 2013, she needs three most double-doubles for the most in a season on The Hilltop since Lindsay Stalzer had 19 in 2005. Angeli and Sam Black (2008) are the only Bradley players in the last decade with at least 70 kills, 700 assists, 17 aces and 230 or more digs in a season.

Senior Jamie Livaudais has averaged a team-best 3.00 kills per set in Missouri Valley Conference play, while sophomore Kathryn Graf boasts a .324 attack percentage to go with 2.67 kills per set in league action to help lead the Braves.

Junior Erica Haslag pushed her season kill total over 300 Saturday at Drake to become the 15th player in program history with back-to-back 300 kill seasons. Just the seventh Brave with at least 290 kills in three consecutive seasons, Haslag had a streak of 17 consecutive double-digit kill outings snapped last Friday at 22nd-ranked Northern Iowa for the longest streak at Bradley since Stalzer had 21 in 2004. Haslag's season total of 18 contests with at least 10 kills is the most on The Hilltop since Amy Angelos posted 20 in 2013.

Haslag enters the weekend needing 16 kills to give her the best season kill total at Bradley since 2006 and is 36 kills from moving 15th all-time in school history. With 920 career kills, Haslag is 80 kills from becoming the 14th individual in program history to reach 1,000.

Following Monday's outing at Evansville, Bradley will continue a four-match road swing next Friday (Oct. 13) with a 7 p.m. contest at I-74 rival Illinois State.

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