CEFCU Classic Up Next For Bradley Volleyball

Volleyball 9/7/2017 12:45:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- The first of back-to-back home tournaments is on tap for Bradley Volleyball, with the Braves welcoming Illinois-Chicago and Murray State to Renaissance Coliseum for the 2017 CEFCU Classic Friday and Saturday.

Bradley will host a tournament for the first time in two years and continue a 10-match home stand with the 2017 CEFCU Classic, kicking off the event Friday against Illinois-Chicago (2-3 overall) at 11 a.m. The Braves will face Murray State (6-1 overall) Friday at 6 p.m. to conclude the opening day of play.

Saturday's action will feature an 11 a.m. match between Illinois-Chicago and Murray State. Bradley and UIC conclude the two-day tournament Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. Second-year Bradley head coach Carol Price-Torok will deliver a pre-game "Chalk Talk" open to all fans prior to Saturday's contest against the Flames starting at 4:15 p.m. in the Zobrist Room.

Both Bradley matchups with Illinois-Chicago will be available on ESPN3 as part of The Valley On ESPN3 and can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

Bradley has hosted an in-season tournament in 11 of the last 12 years and 15 of the last 17 seasons. Overall, the Braves own a 50-34 (.595) record when hosting an in-season tournament and this weekend's event marks the ninth tournament Bradley will have hosted in the eight-year history of Renaissance Coliseum.

Illinois-Chicago has been a common opponent for Bradley over the years with the teams meeting 25 previous times, but this weekend's meetings will be the first contests in the series since 2011. The Braves are 7-5 at home in the all-time series with UIC which dates back to 1983.

Bradley won the only previous matchup with Murray State, topping the Racers in four sets in Macomb, Ill., during the 1989 campaign. Last season, the Racers capped a 23-9 season which included an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title with a four-set loss to #10 national seed UCLA in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Junior Erica Haslag collected 22 kills and 14 digs in Bradley's home opener against Chicago State Tuesday for her fifth consecutive double-double. Haslag has averaged 4.71 kills and 4.19 digs per set during that five-match stretch. She has had 20 or more kills in each of the last two matches and three times this season to become the first Bradley player with 20 or more kills three times in one season since Nikki Pierzchala in 2007. Haslag leads the MVC in kills per set (4.86) and owns four of the top eight individual kill totals at Bradley since the 25-point set format was adopted in 2008.

Fellow junior Yavianliz Rosado had a strong home debut in her first outing at Renaissance Coliseum, tallying 31 digs, three assists and one ace Tuesday night. Rosado is the first player in program history to have three performances of 31 digs or more in a season and joined Lauren Zerante as the only individuals in program history with three career 31+-dig efforts. Rosado's 5.57 digs-per-set average is third in the MVC this season and she has helped the Braves average nearly three more digs per set than last year.

Sophomore middle blocker Alissa Schovanec has provided an offensive boost for Bradley early on and is currently second in the MVC with a .362 hitting percentage while collecting 2.16 kills per set. The Iowa Western transfer has had double-digit kills in three of the last four matches and averaged 2.38 kills per set with a .367 attack percentage during that time frame. Excluding the match at Eastern Illinois on Aug. 26, Schovanec is hitting .374 and averaging 2.35 kills per set on the season.

Following this weekend's CEFCU Classic, Bradley will host the CEFCU Invitational Sept. 15 & 16. The 2017 CEFCU Invitational will feature South Dakota State, UConn, UMKC and Grand Canyon.

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