PEORIA, Ill. -- Pekin, Ill., native Hannah Thompson collected 16 kills and a match-high 29 digs in her first career match at Renaissance Coliseum and senior Erica Haslag added 17 kills and 10 digs of her own as the duo helped power Bradley Volleyball to a 25-20, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22 victory over Western Illinois Friday.
The victory gave the Braves their first 3-1 start to a season since 2015 (5-1) and wrapped up the first day of play at the 2018 CEFCU Invitational. George Washington edged Toledo in five sets earlier in the day to start the tournament.
Haslag highlighted the opening set with six kills on just 13 attacks as she hit .462 individually in the first set. She and junior Kathryn Graf had back-to-back kills during a 3-0 spurt which put Bradley in front 17-14. Haslag added three more kills down the stretch and later capped a 25-20 BU win with her 1,200th career kill. Thompson added four kills and six digs in the opening frame.
Western Illinois rallied to win the second set 25-21 to pull even in the match. Bradley built a 21-15 advantage, but couldn't hold off the Leathernecks, who rattled off the final 10 points of the set. Maelanie Patenaude notched a pair of kills and a block during the closing run, finishing with five kills in the second.
The Braves jumped out to commanding 9-1 lead in the third set and went on to win the stanza 25-19. Haslag and freshman Kat Poore each had a pair of kills to highlight an early 8-0 BU run. Western Illinois chipped away at the Bradley advantage, however, to pull within two points three different times down the stretch. Poore's third kill of the set put the Braves in front 22-18 and the Braves followed a Western Illinois kill with consecutive kills from Thompson, freshman Rachel Pranger and Graf to seal the BU victory. Thompson tallied six kills and nine digs in the third set.
The fourth set featured eight ties and three lead changes early on before the Braves broke a 12-12 tie with four consecutive points. A bad set put Bradley in front and Haslag and Thompson sandwiched kills around a Western Illinois error to give BU a 16-12 edge. The Leathernecks stayed within striking distance and Bradley's lead stood at 20-17 after a Graf kill. Thompson added back-to-back kills to push the advantage to five at 22-17. With BU leading 23-20, Haslag's fifth kill of the set and 17th of the night gave the Braves match point (24-20) and Pranger later put the finishing touches on a 25-22 BU win with a kill.
Thompson finished with 16 kills and a season-best 29 digs for her second double-double of the year. Her 29 digs were the most by a Bradley player not playing libero since outside hitter Briony Hammet notched a school record 38 digs in a four-set match at Evansville on Oct. 22, 2005.
Haslag finished with 17 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season, while hitting at a .349 clip. She moved into sole possession of sixth on Bradley's career kills list after entering the match tied with Stephanie Behrns for sixth in BU history at 1,194 career kills.
Senior Yavianliz Rosado added 21 digs of her own to help lead Bradley defensively. After Western Illinois outdug the Braves 40-33 in the first two sets, Rosado had 14 of her digs in the final two frames to help the Braves to a 54-49 edge in those sets.
The 2018 CEFCU Invitational continues Saturday with Bradley taking on Toledo at 11 a.m. in the day's first match at Renaissance Coliseum. Western Illinois and George Washington take the court at 1 p.m. to wrap up the day's early session.
