Volleyball Opens Home Slate With CEFCU Invitational

Barathwaj Rudraboina

Volleyball 8/29/2018 1:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball will play six of the next nine matches at home, opening the 2018 home schedule this weekend with the 2018 CEFCU Invitational Friday and Saturday at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves (2-1 overall) welcome in-state Western Illinois along with Toledo and George Washington for the first of two home tournaments on the schedule this fall.

The CEFCU Invitational gets underway Friday with Toledo taking on George Washington at 3 p.m. Bradley's earliest home opener since 2013 follows with the Braves facing Western Illinois at 6 p.m. in the 46th all-time meeting between the two teams. BU is 26-19 against the Leathernecks, but Bradley has won three of the last four in the series with WIU and 13 of the last 15. Following Friday's match against Western Illinois, the Braves will be hosting a free post-game autograph session.

Saturday's action begins at 11 a.m. with the Braves matching up with Toledo, looking to improve on a 4-1 lead in the all-time series. George Washington and Western Illinois square off Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Leathernecks are back on the court at 5 p.m. to take on Toledo. Bradley wraps up the tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. against George Washington. The Braves and Colonials will be meeting for the first time since 1991 and have split four previous matchups.

All three Bradley matches this weekend will be available on ESPN+ (subscription required) and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all six matches of the 2018 CEFCU Invitational.

This weekend's CEFCU Invitational is the first of two home tournaments on the schedule for the Braves in 2018. Bradley has hosted at least one in-season tournament in 11 of the last 12 years and 15 of the last 17 seasons. The Braves own a 55-36 (.604) record when hosting an in-season tournament after sweeping through last year's CEFCU Invitational. This year's pair of home tournaments will give the Braves 18 home tournaments in the last 14 years and will mark 11th and 12th home tournaments in the nine-year history of Renaissance Coliseum.

Senior outside hitter Erica Haslag and freshman outside hitter Hannah Thompson were both named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening Eagle Challenge in Morehead, Ky., after the duo led the Braves offensively in all three matches and combined for over 60 percent of the team's kills in the first three outings of 2018. Haslag, who moved up two spots on Bradley's career kills list into a tie with Stephanie Behrns for sixth at 1,194 career kills, averaged 4.08 kills per set and hit at a .310 clip for the weekend. Thompson led the Braves in kills in two of the first three matches and averaged 3.67 kills, 0.25 aces, 2.83 digs and 0.50 blocks per set for the weekend. Thompson had a double-double (17 kills & 17 digs) Friday night at Morehead State and tallied a team-best 19 kills in Saturday's win against St. Francis.

Haslag is fourth in the MVC in kills per set (4.08) and has joined Abigail Kohnen (1997 & 1999) as the only players in program history to tally 45 or more kills in the first three matches of a season twice after notching 49 kills over the weekend and 56 kills during the opening weekend in 2017. Thompson is sixth in kills per set (3.67) in the MVC and joined Kohnen (1997) and Nikki Pierzchala (2005) as the only Bradley underclassmen in the last 27 years to tally 44 or more kills in the first three matches of a season. In fact, Thompson is the only Bradley freshman to do so since the start of the 1991 season. (Complete box scores unavailable for the 1991 Bradley Volleyball season) Thompson is 15th in the nation in kills per set among freshmen through matches of Aug. 27 and one of just two individuals under 5-11 in height in the top 15 in kills per set among freshmen.

Bradley had three freshmen in the starting lineup in last Friday's season opener against Hampton and four newcomers started the contest. All told, freshmen combined for over 40 percent of Bradley's kills and 30 percent of the team's digs in the first three matches, paced by Thompson. She had eight kills, three aces and nine digs in a three-set sweep of Hampton to open the season as the became the first Bradley player to collect at least eight kills, three aces and nine or more digs in their BU debut since Alise Tupuritis in 2009. In addition, Thompson had 17 kills and 17 digs Friday at Morehead State to become the first BU freshman with a double-double in one of their first two matches as a Brave since Lauren Zerante in 2010.

The Braves follow up the first home stand of the 2018 season with a trip to Gadsden, Ala., for the Gamecock Classic Sept. 7 & 8 where Bradley will face Western Carolina and Mississippi Valley State in addition to tournament-host Jacksonville State.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

Volleyball Opens Home Slate With CEFCU Invitational

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#6 Hannah Thompson