Braves Head To Indiana For Ball State Tournament

Volleyball 8/31/2017 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball hits the road for the second consecutive weekend, traveling to Muncie, Ind., for the Ball State Tournament Friday and Saturday where the Braves will face first-time opponents IPFW and Navy along with tournament-host Ball State.

After a 1-2 opening weekend at the Eastern Illinois Panther Classic in Charleston, Ill., in which Bradley topped Memphis in four sets, was separated by a total of seven points in the three sets against one of the Horizon League favorites (Green Bay) and went a full five sets against EIU, the Braves will make the first of four trips in 2017 to the state of Indiana.

Friday's action gets under way with an 11 a.m. (CST) match against IPFW (3-1 overall) and also includes a 6:30 p.m. (CST) contest against tournament-host Ball State (2-1 overall). The matchup with Ball State will be available on ESPN3. Bradley concludes the weekend Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. CST) against Navy, which is 4-0 on the young season after topping Air Force Wednesday.

Both IPFW and Navy are first time opponents for the Braves, who have previously faced only one other military academy (sweep of Air Force in Manhattan, Kan., during the 2000 season). Friday's outing against Ball State will mark just the second meeting in the all-time series, with the Cardinals claiming the previous matchup in 1985 at DePaul.

The Ball State Tournament marks just the second time in the last 10 years Bradley ventures to the state of Indiana for a non-conference contest. Last season's Indiana State Tournament, which featured a non-conference matchup with Western Michigan is the lone trip to the Hoosier State for a non-conference contest in the last 10 seasons. The Braves will play multiple non-conference matches in the state of Indiana for the first time since 2006 (Mortar Board Premier in West Lafayette, Ind.) and Bradley has played a total of 10 non-conference matches in Indiana over the last two decades.

Junior Erica Haslag is averaging a Missouri Valley Conference best 4.67 kills per set after tallying 17 or more kills in all three matches at the EIU Panther Classic. Her 19-kill and 24-dig outing at EIU Saturday marked the most kills by a Brave in a 20-dig effort in nearly a decade. Haslag enters the weekend 39 kills from moving into the top 25 in career kills at Bradley.

A pair of NCAA Division I transfers played big roles for the Braves last weekend. San Jose State transfer Yavianliz Rosado started at libero each of the first three matches of 2017 and is averaging 6.58 digs per set. She had 31 digs in the season opener only to post a career-best 32 digs the next day against Eastern Illinois. The third player in program history to collect more than 30 digs twice in the same season, Rosado's 32-dig effort tied for the eighth-best single match total in Bradley history.

Sophomore Hannah Angeli, a transfer from Nebraska-Omaha, was equally impressive in her Bradley debut. The setter turned in three double-doubles to become just the second Brave in the last 17 seasons to tally three consecutive double-doubles to open a season. Her 51 assist and 19 dig performance against Eastern Illinois was the first 50-assist and 19-dig effort by a Bradley individual since Sam Hardwick (55 assists & 20 digs) vs. Missouri State on Oct. 27, 2001.

Fellow sophomore Kathryn Graf also had a big opening weekend of competition and currently paces the MVC in blocks per set at 1.58. In addition to her defensive efforts, Graf added 2.08 kills per set after averaging 0.89 per set as a freshman. Bradley is averaging nearly a full block better than last season.

Following the weekend trip to Muncie, Ind., Bradley will play its home opener Tuesday, Sept. 5 (6 p.m.) against Chicago State. The midweek contest against the Cougars kicks off the longest home stand in program history (10 matches).

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