DES MOINES, Iowa – Junior
Emma Raleigh had a Missouri Valley Conference match record 48 digs and Bradley Volleyball had four individuals with 13 or more kills as the Braves picked up a road win at Drake with a 29-27, 26-24, 25-27, 25-13 victory over the Bulldogs Saturday at the Knapp Center.
Raleigh's 48 digs topped the MVC single-match digs mark of 46 set nearly 10 years to the day (10/10/09) by Missouri State's Cara Hackman in a match vs. Evansville and was six digs better than the previous school record of 42 digs set by
Yavianliz Rosado just last season. In fact, Raleigh had the most digs by a player at the NCAA Division I level dating back to the 2016 season.
Bradley (8-9 overall, 4-2 MVC), which held on to third in the MVC standings with the win, earned its first road win in the series with Drake (7-13 overall, 1-6 MVC) since 2013. The Braves finished with a season-high 126 digs, matching its season high total from 2018 set in a match against the Bulldogs which led the nation.
Sophomore
Rachel Pranger tied a career-best with 19 kills to pace Bradley offensively, and also had 17 digs as she notched her seventh double-double of the year. Fellow sophomore
Hannah Thompson had a career-high 32 digs to go with her 16 kills, pushing her school record streak of consecutive double-doubles to 15. Thompson moved into a tie for 10
th in Bradley history with her 35
th career double-double.
Joining Pranger and Thompson in double figures in kills, were sophomore
Kat Poore (16 kills) and junior
Sara Maddox, who had a season-best 13 kills.
Bradley had to fight off four set points in an opening frame, which featured 22 ties and 10 lead changes. Drake had set point at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, only to have the Braves answer each time. With Drake leading 27-26, Poore collected one of her five first-set kills to pull Bradley even at 27-27. A Drake error gave Bradley set point at 28-27 and a kill by freshman
Raeann Bergman closed out a 29-27 win for BU.
In the second set, Bradley led most of the way, but needed another late push. The BU advantage was 21-18 after one of Pranger's six second-set kills. Drake came out of a timeout to score the next four points, however, to go in front 22-21 and the Bulldogs would eventually hold set point at 24-23 on a block. A Drake service error knotted the score at 24-24 and a Bulldog attack error gave the Braves a 25-24 advantage. Maddox put the finishing touches on a 26-24 Bradley win with a kill.
Unlike the first two sets, Bradley was the first team to hold set point in the third with the Braves taking a 24-23 lead on a kill by Poore. Drake's Gillian Gergen had a kill to even the set at 24-24, before Pranger and freshman
Karagan Coggin had a block to once again put Bradley ahead 25-24. Emily Plock of Drake, who had a match-high 28 kills, found the floor with a kill to tie it up and added an ace as the Bulldogs grabbed a 26-25 lead. A Drake block gave the Bulldogs the set 27-25 and forced a fourth game.
Bradley took control of the fourth set from the outset, racing out to a 7-0 lead. Poore had two kills and a block to help key the 7-0 opening salvo by the Braves. Drake managed to chip away at the BU lead and pull within three at 11-8, before a 6-0 BU run put things out of reach. A pair of Maddox kills along with a Thompson kill and Pranger ace highlighted the run which gave the Braves a 17-8 advantage. Maddox added two more kills down the stretch as Bradley captured the fourth set 25-13 for the win.
In addition to the MVC record 48 digs, Raleigh finished with a career-high four aces. Bradley improved to 2-1 on the road in Valley play and held onto third in the league standings.
The Braves return home to open a two-match home stand Friday, Oct. 18 with a 6 p.m. match against Valparaiso at Renaissance Coliseum.
