Bradley Volleyball Takes Home Valley Honors

Julie Kestas

Volleyball 11/22/2018 12:53:00 AM

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Third-year Bradley Volleyball Head Coach Carol Price-Torok was named the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year and freshman outside hitter Hannah Thompson was named the Valley's Freshman of the Year when the league announced its annual award winners at the Hammons Student Center Thursday.

In addition to the Coach of the Year and Valley Freshman of the Year awards, Bradley had a pair of First-Team All-MVC honorees in seniors Erica Haslag and Yavianliz Rosado, while Thompson also earned second-team all-conference recognition along with a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team.

Price-Torok has led Bradley (23-7 overall, 13-5 MVC) to an improved win total in each of her first three seasons, but the 2018 campaign is one for the record book with the Braves posting their best overall (23) and MVC (13) win totals since 2001. She joins Scott Luster, who led Bradley to a 24-8 overall mark and 14-4 league record during that 2001 season, as the only Bradley Volleyball coaches to be named MVC Coach of the Year.

Bradley is the first team in league history to finish in the top three of the regular-season MVC standings after a last-place finish the previous year. BU's 10-win improvement in conference play from last year is the largest for any team in the MVC since 1999 (Bradley at +10) and ties for the best improvement since the Valley adopted an 18-game conference schedule in 1996. Overall, Bradley improved its win total from 2017 (10) by 13 victories to tie for the best win improvement in the nation (Florida International & Stetson) through matches of Nov. 20..

Thompson is the first Bradley freshman to earn all-conference recognition since Joy Ostendorf in 1993 and is just the third player in program history to earn all-league honors as a freshman. Even more impressive, she joins MVC All-Centennial Team selection Lindsay Stalzer as the only Braves to be named MVC Freshman of the Year (2002). Thompson, who was a Second-Team All-MVC honoree as well, owns a team-best 18 double-doubles and is second on the team in both kills (3.01 per set) and digs (4.15 per set).

Just the fifth five-time MVC Freshman of the Week selection in league history, Thompson is the only freshman in the country and one of just three players in the nation with 340 kills and at least 470 digs. In fact, she is the second player in Bradley history to reach those numbers in a season to join Stacey Besjak (1985) and first in the MVC in at least a decade. Her 473 digs rank as the 10th-best season total in Bradley history and the most by a Brave other than a libero since 1985. The last Bradley player to land on the MVC All-Freshman team was Rachel Jones in 2013.

Haslag is a repeat First-Team All-MVC selection, making her the seventh two-time first-team all-conference performer in Bradley history. Stalzer was Bradley's last two-time First-Team All-MVC pick, earning the distinction each of her final three seasons (2003, 2004 & 2005), with Haslag joining a list of two-time first-team all-conference selections for the Braves which also includes Stephanie Behrns, Laura Benzing, Sam Hardwick, Jenna Passman and Jenny Pavlas. Third in the MVC in kills per set at 4.19, Haslag ranks 32nd in the nation this season. She averaged an even more impressive 4.46 kills per set in Valley matches.

A two-time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete, Haslag was one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award and a First-Team Academic All-District V selection in 2018. She has eight matches with 20 or more kills this fall, including five of the last seven and was a two-time MVC Player of the Week honoree. Haslag enters the MVC Tournament seventh among active players in the nation and 14th in MVC history with 1,623 career kills. In addition, her 478 kills this season rank seventh among Bradley season marks.

Rosado has helped anchor a Bradley defense which ranks second in the nation in digs per set at 19.39. A three-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week pick in 2018, she has earned the honor four times during her two-year Bradley career. Rosado broke her own school record for digs in a season, with her 663 digs ranking as the 10th-best season total in MVC history.

Currently second in the MVC in digs per set at 5.82, she is seventh nationally and averaged an even more impressive 6.16 digs per set in league games. Rosado broke the Bradley single-match record with 42 digs in a four-set home victory over Drake and has 19 outings with 20 or more digs in 2018. The San Jose State transfer is seventh in career digs at Bradley (1,308) despite playing just 62 matches on The Hilltop and her career dig total of 2,148 is 10th among active players in the country.

Bradley reached its first MVC Tournament since 2013 and will face #6 seed Drake in the opening round later today, taking on the Bulldogs in a 5 p.m. match.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#6 Hannah Thompson: OH; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#6 Hannah Thompson
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: OH

Bradley Volleyball Takes Home Valley Honors

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

#6 Hannah Thompson