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3
Winner Drake DU 21-13
2
Bradley BRAD 23-8
Winner
Drake DU
21-13
3
Final
2
Bradley BRAD
23-8
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Drake DU 25 15 25 22 17 (3)
Bradley BRAD 15 25 23 25 15 (2)
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Missouri State Athletics

Drake Edges Bradley In Five At Valley Tournament

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Game Recap: Volleyball |
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In what turned out to be another defensive struggle between #6 seed Drake and #3 seed Bradley in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, the Braves fought off four match points in the fifth before the Bulldogs were able to close out a 25-15, 15-25, 25-23, 22-25, 17-15 victory Thursday.
 
Senior Erica Haslag highlighted Bradley's offensive attack with a match-high 23 kills to push her season total over 500.  Hannah Thompson added her team-best 19th double-double of the year with 18 kills and 19 digs.
 
In the last meeting between Drake (21-13 overall) and Bradley (23-8 overall), the Braves tallied the highest single-match dig total in the nation (126).  Thursday, the Braves finished one dig short of matching that number with 125 digs in the hard-fought five-set loss.  Senior Yavianliz Rosado led BU's defensive efforts with 40 digs to break the MVC Tournament record for digs in a match which was previously held by Courtney Pence (38) of Illinois State. 
 
Junior setter Hannah Angeli turned in a double-double of her own, collecting 56 assists and 22 digs to go with her five kills and five blocks.  In addition to her 12th double-double of the year, Angeli notched the first performance by a Brave of 50 assists and 20 or more digs since Sam Hardwick in 2001.
 
Bradley was in an early hole after Drake took the opening set 25-15, behind six kills from Grace Schofield.  The Braves answered with a 25-15 win of their own in the second set, however, to pull even in the match.  Thompson had five kills and five digs in the set, while Rosado notched seven of her 40 digs in the frame.
 
Haslag gave Bradley a 7-6 lead in the third set, before Drake rattled off five consecutive points to go in front 11-7. The Braves would hang close down the stretch, eventually pulling within one at 22-21 on a Thompson kill.  The Bulldogs held set point at 24-21 after back-to-back kills and a Bradley error would later give Drake the third set 25-23.  Haslag had six kills on nine attacks with no errors in the third. 
 
The fourth set had 11 ties and three lead changes, before Bradley was able to force a deciding fifth set with a 25-23 win.  With Drake leading 15-13 the Braves rattled off four consecutive kills.  Thompson started what would be a 5-0 BU run with a kill and junior Kathryn Graf sandwiched a pair of kills around one from Haslag during the spurt to give Bradley an 18-15 edge.  
 
Drake would later pull to within one at 22-21 on a Natalie Fry kill.  Freshman Rachel Pranger followed a Drake error with one of her four fourth-set kills and a Thompson kill after a Bulldog point gave the Braves the fourth set 25-23.  Haslag added another six kills in the fourth and Rosado tallied 12 digs in the stanza. 
 
A 5-1 run by Drake early in the fifth set gave the Bulldogs a 5-2 advantage, forcing Bradley to battle from behind.  The Braves pulled within one at 10-9 on a Drake error, but the Bulldogs quickly pushed the lead back to three at 13-10 and held match point at 14-11. 
 
Bradley would go on to hold off four Drake match points.  Junior Maggie Revell had the first point for the Braves with a kill and a Haslag kill pulled BU within one at 14-13.  After a Drake error tied things up at 14-14, Drake went back in front (15-14) on a Bradley error.  Haslag's 23rd kill of the night and fourth of the set once again pulled the Braves even at 15-15.  Fry broke the 15-15 tie with a kill to give Drake a 16-15 lead and Cathryn Cheek added another kill to give the Bulldogs the 17-15 win.
 
Haslag pushed her season kill total to 501 to join Lindsay Stalzer as the only players in school history to have two seasons with 500 or more kills and she owns two of the top five single season kill totals in program history.  She also moved into 13th in career kills in MVC history with 1,646.
 
In addition to her MVC Tournament match record 40 digs, Rosado recorded her 700th dig of the season to become just the fifth player in league history with 700 or more digs in a season.  She also climbed four spots on Bradley's career digs list into third-place. 
 
Drake advances to Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal against #2 seed Illinois State.    
 
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Players Mentioned

Hannah Angeli

#9 Hannah Angeli

S
6' 0"
Junior
Kathryn Graf

#12 Kathryn Graf

MB
6' 2"
Junior
Erica Haslag

#3 Erica Haslag

OH
5' 11"
Senior
Maggie Revell

#5 Maggie Revell

MB
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
Yavianliz Rosado

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

DS/L
5' 6"
Senior
Hannah Thompson

#6 Hannah Thompson

OH
5' 8"
Freshman
Rachel Pranger

#21 Rachel Pranger

OH
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Hannah Angeli

#9 Hannah Angeli

6' 0"
Junior
S
Kathryn Graf

#12 Kathryn Graf

6' 2"
Junior
MB
Erica Haslag

#3 Erica Haslag

5' 11"
Senior
OH
Maggie Revell

#5 Maggie Revell

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
MB
Yavianliz Rosado

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

5' 6"
Senior
DS/L
Hannah Thompson

#6 Hannah Thompson

5' 8"
Freshman
OH
Rachel Pranger

#21 Rachel Pranger

5' 11"
Freshman
OH