Volleyball Opens Season At EIU Panther Classic

Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Volleyball 8/24/2017 1:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball will open a season in the state of Illinois for the first time since 2014 and will make just its third trip to Charleston, Ill., in 25 years with the Braves opening the 2017 season at the Eastern Illinois Panther Classic Friday and Saturday.

Friday's season-opening match against Memphis (4 p.m.) marks the earliest season opener for Bradley since 2012. The opening weekend of play also includes Saturday matchups against Wisconsin-Green Bay (10:30 a.m.) and tournament-host Eastern Illinois (7 p.m.). All three matches will be streamed on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network (ovcdigitalnetwork.com)

The 2017 season will mark the 44th year of intercollegiate competition for Bradley Volleyball and the Braves have won their season opener in six of the last eight seasons dating back to 2008. Overall, Bradley is 23-20 in season openers with Friday's outing against Memphis marking the third time in the last nine years the Braves will open a season on a neutral floor.

Last year Bradley earned four neutral site victories, finishing with a 4-3 record in neutral matches. The Braves have posted a .500 record or better at neutral sites in seven of the last eight seasons, boasting a 21-13 record on neutral courts during that span.

In 2016, Bradley improved its overall and Missouri Valley Conference win total in the same season for the first time since 2013. The Braves have a chance to be the first Bradley Volleyball squad in nearly a quarter century to improve their overall and conference win totals in back-to-back seasons (1993 & 1994).

Bradley will play a total of 17 home matches in 2017 and 23 of 32 matches this season in the state of Illinois. In fact, the EIU Panther Classic kicks off a stretch in which the Braves will play 13 of the first 16 matches of 2017 in the Land of Lincoln to open the season. After traveling nearly 6,000 miles in 2016, Bradley will log approximately 3,800 miles this fall.

The Braves took advantage of a new NCAA rule, allowing NCAA Division I teams to play one exhibition match. Bradley fell in four sets to perennial Atlantic 10 power Saint Louis back on Aug. 14 and was paced by junior Erica Haslag's 16 kills in the outing. Haslag led the Braves in 2016 with a 3.33 kills-per-set average as she finished her sophomore season with the highest kill total by a Bradley player in a decade.

Haslag is one of eight returning letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team with the group accounting for nearly two-thirds of last season's kills and aces.

Good starts were important for Bradley last season with all of the team's wins in 2016 coming after taking the first set. The Braves won the opening set in 12 of 29 matches last fall, nearly matching the combined totals of the 2015 (7) and 2014 (6) campaigns. Last year's five three-set sweeps were two more than the team's combined total from 2015 (2) and 2014 (1).

Bradley will follow up the Eastern Illinois Panther Classic with a tournament in Muncie, Ind., taking part in the Ball State Tournament Sept. 1 & 2 before opening a 10-match home stand. The Braves start the Ball State Tournament Sept. 1 with an 11 a.m. matchup with IPFW.

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Players Mentioned

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

Players Mentioned

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

Volleyball Opens Season At EIU Panther Classic

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag