PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Erica Haslag pounded home 17 kills in the final home match of her career to help Bradley to a 25-19, 25-22, 25-23 sweep of I-74 Illinois State Friday night at Renaissance Coliseum to conclude the regular-season schedule for the Braves.
One of seven Bradley seniors playing their final match at Renaissance Coliseum, Haslag notched five kills on her first five swings of the night and finished with a match-high 17 kills as she moved into 14th in career kills in MVC history in the process.
The Braves (23-7 overall, 13-5 MVC) finished the regular season with a 14-1 home record and the team's 13 Valley victories were the most since posting a 14-4 league record in 2001, which was also the last time Bradley finished third in the MVC standings. BU snapped a 12-match Illinois State win streak.
The Redbirds (24-6 overall, 16-2 MVC) entered the evening with a chance to earn at least a share of the MVC regular-season title and the Bradley victory nearly put a hold on the Illinois State festivities. A five-set loss by Northern Iowa at Evansville, however, locked up at least a share of the regular-season crown for ISU. UNI is a half-game behind Illinois State in the standings at 15-2 in Valley play with a Saturday night match at Indiana State remaining.
Haslag wasted no time getting started, collecting five kills in Bradley's first 12 points in the opening set. The Braves never trailed in the frame, breaking open a 13-12 contest with four consecutive points. Sophomore Sara Maddox had a pair of kills during the run to give Bradley a 17-12 advantage. Illinois State cut the deficit to two at 21-19, before another 4-0 BU run closed out a 25-19 win for the Braves. Senior Alissa Schovanec and junior Hannah Angeli combined for a block to open the spurt and Haslag, who had seven kills in the first, followed an ISU error with back-to-back kills.
Bradley hit .357 in the second set and jumped out to an early 8-4 lead to force a Redbird timeout. The Braves led by as many as five in the second, only to have Illinois State claw back within one point at 22-21. Freshman Hannah Thompson made it a two-point cushion at 23-21 with a kill and Bradley held set point at 24-21 on a block by Maddox and junior Kathryn Graf. Illinois State stayed alive thanks to a BU error, before a Maddox kill closed a 25-22 Bradley win.
Three Illinois State errors and a Graf ace helped the Braves to a 4-1 start to the third set. Bradley extended the lead to six (10-4) before the Redbirds had to burn an early timeout. Illinois State eventually used a 5-1 run to pull within two at 16-14 and BU's lead was still two at 18-16. The Braves answered with a 5-1 run of their own, however, with Graf opening the decisive run with a block. Haslag added two more kills during the spurt to help Bradley to a 23-17 advantage.
The Braves held match point at 24-21 on an Angeli kill and Maddox would later put the finishing touches on Bradley's first three-set win over Illinois State since 2010 with her ninth kill of the night as BU took the third 25-23.
Thompson and senior Yavianliz Rosado tied for match-high honors with 18 digs as the pair helped limit Illinois State to .133 hitting percentage. Thompson added eight kills, while hitting .304 and Maddox collected seven of her nine kills in the final two sets. Graf notched six kills with no errors and hit .500. Rosado pushed her school-record season dig total to 663, which ranks 10th among MVC season marks.
Bradley will be the #3 seed for next week's MVC Tournament which will be held Nov. 22-24 in Springfield, Mo. The Braves will face either Missouri State, Loyola or Drake in Thursday's opening round.
