Gamecock Classic Up Next For Bradley Volleyball

Volleyball 9/6/2018 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Fresh off a 3-0 weekend and tournament title at the 2018 CEFCU Invitational, Bradley Volleyball puts a 5-1 overall record on the line when the Braves travel to Gadsden, Ala., for the Gamecock Classic Friday and Saturday.

Bradley is 5-1 to start a season for the seventh time in program history to match the team's best start through six contests. The Braves kick off their first trip to state of Alabama since 1993 Friday morning against Western Carolina (5-2 overall) at 10 a.m. Bradley faces tournament-host Jacksonville State (3-4 overall) Friday at 7:30 p.m. and wraps up the trip Saturday with an 11 a.m. outing against first-time opponent Mississippi Valley State (0-8 overall).

The 2018 squad looks to join the 2013 and 2000 teams as the only Bradley Volleyball teams to start a season 6-1. After splitting the first two matches of the season, the Braves have won four consecutive matches and will be shooting for their first five-match win streak since opening the 2012 campaign with a 5-0 record.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three matches at the Gamecock Classic and in-game updates will be available via twitter (@BRADLEYVolley).

The Braves are 1-1 against this weekend's opponents at the Gamecock Classic, playing one game previously against both Western Carolina and Jacksonville State. Bradley won the only previous matchup with Western Carolina, pulling out a four-set victory at Radford in 2009. Jacksonville State was victorious in the only previous contest in the series with the Braves, winning a four-set match at Butler during the 2004 campaign.

Freshman outside hitter Hannah Thompson has certainly had a bit impact early on for the Braves, ranking second on the team in kills (3.35) and digs (4.61) per set. In fact, Thompson is one of just two players to rank in the top 10 in the MVC in both kills (5th) and digs (6th), joining Indiana State senior Laura Gross. Thompson has a team-best three double-doubles on the year and was named to the CEFCU Invitational All-Tournament team this past weekend after averaging 3.00 kills and 6.45 digs per set.

Thompson, who was named the MVC Freshman of the Week Tuesday, collected 29 digs in last Friday's four-set victory over Western Illinois for the most digs by a Bradley player other than a libero since Briony Hammet had a school record 38 digs at Evansville on Oct. 22, 2005. She is just the fifth Brave in the last 27 years to tally at least 75 kills and 75 digs in the first six matches of a season (complete box scores unavailable for the 1991 Bradley Volleyball season) and is the only player in program history with 75 kills and 100 digs in the first six outings of a season during that same span.

Senior Erica Haslag is third in the MVC in kills per set (4.17) and her 96 kills through six matches rank third among BU totals through six matches since the start of the 1992 season. Haslag had a school record 114 kills through six matches last season. She enters the weekend 102 kills behind Abigail Kohnen for fifth in school history and has climbed into ninth among active NCAA Division I players in career kills (1,241) through matches of Sept. 2. Haslag is just the third individual in Bradley history with 1,200 career kills and 800 or more digs.

Fellow senior Yavianliz Rosado was named MVP of the 2018 CEFCU Invitational, averaging an impressive 6.82 digs per set in Bradley's three victories last weekend. Rosado leads the MVC and was 14th in the nation in digs per set (5.87) through Sept. 2. She has helped lead a Bradley defense which ranks 16th in the country in digs per set as a team.

The Braves follow up the Gamecock Classic by hosting the CEFCU Classic Sept. 14 & 15 at Renaissance Coliseum. Bradley will play in-state foe Eastern Illinois Friday, Sept. 14 at 12:30 p.m. in its first match of the two-day tournament which includes Omaha and Milwaukee.

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Players Mentioned

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

#1 Yavianliz Rosado: DS/L; 5' 6"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#1 Yavianliz Rosado
: 5' 6"; Senior
: DS/L

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

Gamecock Classic Up Next For Bradley Volleyball

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#1 Yavianliz Rosado

#6 Hannah Thompson