PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Erica Haslag had a match-high 12 kills and freshman Hannah Thompson turned in her 13th double-double of the year to help power Bradley Volleyball to a 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 victory over visiting Southern Illinois Saturday at Renaissance Coliseum.
The Braves (18-5 overall, 8-3 MVC) now own the longest home win streak in program history at 12 matches, breaking the previous record of 11 set during the 1985 season, and are a perfect 12-0 at home on the year to tie the school record for most home victories in a season (2002, 2001 & 1985).
Bradley used an efficient offensive attack, hitting .301 as a team, in addition to serving up a season-best 11 aces in the victory as the Braves swept the regular-season series from Southern Illinois (4-19 overall, 0-10 MVC) for the first time since 2013. BU's 11 aces were the most for the Braves since posting 12 aces in a victory against Manhattan in 2015 and the last time Bradley had 11 or more aces in a three-set contest was Sept. 5, 2009 (12) vs. Coppin State.
Junior Kathryn Graf got things rolling early for the Braves with back-to-back kills to open the contest and collected kills on each of her first four attacks of the night. SIU managed to hang with the Braves early despite BU hitting .410 in the opening set.
Sophomore Sara Maddox and Thompson took over down the stretch to help Bradley put away the opener 25-16. With Bradley leading 17-15, Maddox sparked a 4-0 Bradley spurt with a kill and Thompson followed with back-to-back kills of her own. Another Maddox kill gave the Braves a 21-15 advantage before the Salukis briefly stopped the BU run with a point. Maddox had a kill and block to start another 4-0 spurt by the Braves, which was capped by back-to-back Thompson kills. Thompson tallied six kills and six digs in the first frame, while Maddox added five kills in the opener.
Junior setter Hannah Angeli helped Bradley jump out to an early lead in the second set, notching a kill, one assist and back-to-back aces to highlight a 6-0 run which gave the Braves a 7-2 lead. Bradley served up four aces in the second, pushing the lead to nine at 13-4 on a Yavianliz Rosado ace.
The Braves eventually extended the lead to as many as 10 points (20-10) on an Abby Ihrke ace and held set point (24-14) after an Angeli kill. Graf closed out a 25-17 BU win with her third kill of the set and seventh of the night. Haslag found the floor with five kills in the second.
Angeli opened the third set with a kill and Thompson followed with three consecutive aces as the pair helped spark the Braves to a 7-1 lead to open the stanza. Bradley never trailed in the third set, pushing the lead to as many as 11 points (19-8) before SIU was able to mount a late push. The Salukis managed to pull within four points a couple of times down the stretch, but the Braves were able to take the third 25-20 to complete the sweep. Haslag added another five kills in the final set.
Thompson joined Haslag (12 kills) in double figures with 10 kills to go with her 14 digs and three aces. Angeli had three aces of her own, in addition to four kills, 37 assists and five digs. Maddox finished with eight kills and Graf added seven in the win.
Bradley's 18 victories are the squad's most since capping the 2002 season with a 19-12 mark and the Braves have eight league wins for the first time since finishing with a 9-9 Valley record in 2005.
The Braves play four of the next matches on the road, opening the stretch Friday with a 7 p.m. match at Evansville.
