PEORIA, Ill. -- After two weeks of practice the 2018 Bradley Volleyball season opener is finally here with the Braves making the first trip in program history to the state of Kentucky for the season-opening Eagle Challenge in Morehead, Ky., Friday and Saturday.
Bradley rallied for a five-set victory over in-state foe Northern Illinois Saturday in an exhibition matchup and will officially open the 2018 campaign Friday with a noon (CDT) matchup against Hampton. The Braves will also face tournament-host Morehead State later that same day in a 6 p.m. (CDT) match, before closing out the opening weekend of the 2018 season Saturday with a 10 a.m. (CDT) outing against first-time opponent St. Francis (N.Y.).
A free video stream of Friday's tilt with Morehead State will be available through the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three matches.
Friday's opener against Hampton will be the second meeting with the Pirates, with the only previous matchup, which was played Aug. 29, 2014 at DePaul, going five sets. Bradley and Morehead State will be meeting for the second time as well, with the Braves sweeping the Eagles Oct. 4, 1986 in a tournament played at Butler.
The 2018 season will mark the 45th year of intercollegiate competition for Bradley Volleyball. The Braves have won their season opener in seven of the last nine seasons dating back to 2008 after a four-set victory over Memphis to open the 2017 campaign and are 24-20 all-time in season openers. The Braves will be starting a season away from home for the fifth consecutive year and 30th time overall.
Bradley was 2-2 in neutral site contests last season, marking the eighth time in the last nine years the Braves finished .500 or better in neutral matches. In fact, Bradley owns a 6-5 neutral site record under third-year head coach Carol Price-Torok. Over the last nine seasons, the Braves have combined for a 23-15 neutral site mark.
Senior Erica Haslag enters her final season on The Hilltop eighth in career kills at Bradley with 1,145 and is 12th among active NCAA Division I players in career kills. She is currently 20 kills from passing Bradley Hall of Fame member Jenna Passman for seventh on BU's career kills list and needs 50 kills to overtake Stephanie Behrns for sixth at Bradley.
The return of junior Kathryn Graf coupled with the addition of sophomore transfer Sara Maddox (Mississippi State), who had 15 kills in Saturday's exhibition at NIU gives Bradley three individuals which had 250 or more kills the previous year for the first time since the 2003 campaign.
One of the top defensive teams in the nation last year, the Braves were 11th in the nation in digs per set at 18.21. Bradley returns three individuals who collected 320 or more digs last fall to join Valparaiso as the only teams in the Valley to boast four returning players with 300+ digs in 2017. Valparaiso led the nation in digs-per-set average last season.
Senior Yavianliz Rosado tallied 24 digs Saturday at Northern Illinois to help lead Bradley defensively. She had a Bradley season-record 644 digs in her first season as a Brave and starts the year 13th among active NCAA Division I players in career digs.
Following the weekend trip to Kentucky, Bradley hosts the first of two home tournaments Aug. 31 & Sept. 1. The Braves welcome in-state foe Western Illinois, Toledo and George Washington for the two-day event at Renaissance Coliseum. Bradley opens tournament-play Friday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. against Western Illinois.
