Braves Host Chicago State Tuesday

Barathwaj Rudraboina

Volleyball 9/4/2017 12:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Volleyball will play more home matches in the month of September (10) than the Braves played during the entire 2016 season (9), with BU opening a 10-match home stand Tuesday with a 6 p.m. match against Chicago State at Renaissance Coliseum.

The 10-match home stand is the longest in program history, surpassing the previous record of eight consecutive home matches to open the 1993 campaign. Tuesday's home outing against Chicago marks the first midweek non-conference home match since 2012. Bradley will be making the second of at least 20 appearances on ESPN3 Tuesday night.

Bradley (2-4 overall) owns a commanding 11-3 advantage in the all-time series with Chicago State (3-3 overall), which includes a nine-match win streak against the Cougars dating back to the 1978 season. Five of the last six meetings have been played in Peoria and the Braves are 6-0 at home all-time against Chicago State.

Junior Erica Haslag is not only leading the Missouri Valley Conference in kills per set (4.96), but is doing so at a historic pace. Haslag has 114 kills through six matches and is the first player in program history with 100 or more kills through six matches. She became the third fastest player in program history to reach 700 career kills, eclipsing the mark Friday at Ball State in her 63^rd outing as a Brave. Only Bradley Hall of Fame members Lindsay Stalzer (61 matches) and Jenny Pavlas (58 matches) reached the mark faster.

Part of the reason for Haslag's big numbers has been her play in the first set of matches. She had 10 kills in the opening set of Saturday's outing against Navy and has averaged 6.67 kills per set in the first set of matches this season with a .306 hitting percentage. Haslag has recorded four consecutive double-doubles after collecting career-highs of 28 kills and 24 digs in Saturday's contest against Navy.

As a team, Bradley leads the Missouri Valley Conference in kills per set (14.91), assists (14.00) and blocks (2.43) after ranking ninth or 10^th in the league in each category last season. The Braves have only averaged better than 13.00 kills per set once in the last decade (2013 – 13.02) and the last time Bradley averaged better than two blocks per set was 2007 (2.27).

Sophomore Hannah Angeli has had double-doubles in each of her six outings as a Brave. The last Bradley player to collect six consecutive double-doubles was Stephanie Behrns midway through the 2002 season and Angeli is the first player in program history with six consecutive double-doubles to open a season. On the year, Angeli is averaging 11.09 assists and 4.04 digs per set.

Junior Yavianliz Rosado is currently third in the MVC in digs per set (5.43), but tallied a career-best 13 assists Saturday against Navy. Rosado added 17 digs to go with her 13 assists for the first double-double in program history by a Bradley libero.

Following Tuesday's home opener, Bradley will host the CEFCU Classic Friday and Saturday at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves open tournament-play Friday with an 11 a.m. contest against Illinois-Chicago before facing Murray State later that day at 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Hannah Angeli: S; 6' 0"; Sophomore

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

#1 Yavianliz Rosado: DS/L; 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#9 Hannah Angeli
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: S

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

#1 Yavianliz Rosado
: 5' 6"; Junior
: DS/L

Braves Host Chicago State Tuesday

Players Mentioned

#9 Hannah Angeli

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

Players Mentioned

#9 Hannah Angeli

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado