Bradley Volleyball Set For CEFCU Classic

Julie Kestas

Volleyball 9/12/2018 1:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball returns to Renaissance Coliseum after posting a 2-1 mark at last week's Gamecock Classic in Gadsden, Ala., to host the CEFCU Classic Friday and Saturday in the final non-conference matches of the 2018 season for the Braves.

The second of two tournaments hosted by Bradley this season, the CEFCU Classic will feature four matches on Friday and two Saturday. Friday's action gets underway with Omaha taking on Milwaukee at 10:30 a.m. and Bradley facing in-state foe Eastern Illinois at 12:30 p.m. in the first trip to Peoria for the Panthers since 2003. Later that afternoon Eastern Illinois squares off with Milwaukee at 4:30 p.m. and the Braves return to the court for a 7 p.m. match against Omaha. Omaha and Eastern Illinois kick off Saturday's slate at 11 a.m. with the tournament concluding with a 2 p.m. contest between Bradley and Milwaukee.

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 Classic.

Bradley enters the final weekend of the non-conference schedule with a 7-2 mark to match the most non-conference victories in a season for the Braves since owning a 9-5 non-conference mark in 2009.

A free youth clinic for children (ages 6-14) will be held following Saturday's 2 p.m. match against Milwaukee. Bradley volleyball players and coaches will provide instruction at the free clinic which will be held on the Renaissance Coliseum floor shortly after the completion of the match. No pre-registration is necessary, but participants are asked to wear active gear and gym shoes. The Braves will be signing autographs at the conclusion of the clinic.

Saturday's 2 p.m. match vs. Milwaukee will also mark Bradley Volleyball's annual Cram the Coliseum Event as part of Bradley University's Family Weekend. Last year's event in conjunction with Family Weekend drew 1,184 fans to Renaissance Coliseum for the fourth largest crowd in program history and third largest in Renaissance Coliseum history. In 2015, the Braves had the sixth largest crowd in school history (1,115) on hand for the Sept. 19, 2015 matchup against DePaul, which was part of Family Weekend.

For the sixth time in program history Bradley has opened a season with 7-2 mark. The last time the Braves started a season 7-2 or better was 2001 (8-2) as part of a 24-8 campaign which saw Bradley finish third in the regular-season MVC race. Bradley has won 20 or more matches in four of the previous five seasons in which it started the year 7-2 or better.

Senior middle Alissa Schovanec was named to the Gamecock Classic All-Tournament team after hitting a blistering .475 and averaging 1.91 kills per set last weekend. She was joined on the all-tournament team by junior Hannah Angeli who helped Bradley hit .278 as a team, including .432 in Saturday's sweep of Mississippi Valley State for BU's best hitting percentage in a match since the 2012 season opener against Elon.

Schovanec hit .548 over the final two matches of the weekend (18 kills - 1 error - 31 attack) and now leads the team in hitting percentage at .281 for the season. Against Jacksonville State, Schovanec hit .600 (12 kills - 0 errors - 20 attacks) for the best hitting percentage by a Brave since Kelsey Cave had 19 kills on 28 attacks with no errors (.679) at Indiana State on Sept. 16, 2016.

Bradley will follow up the CEFCU Classic with its Missouri Valley Conference opener at Southern Illinois, Friday, September 21 (7 p.m.).

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