Volleyball Hits The Road

Duane Zehr

Volleyball 10/10/2019 10:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- After playing five of the last six matches at Renaissance Coliseum, Bradley Volleyball opens a stretch with six of eight matches on the road with a two-game road swing which includes a Friday contest at league-leading Northern Iowa and a Saturday afternoon match at Drake.

Bradley (7-8 overall, 3-1 MVC) enters the week third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings and riding a three-match win streak, heading into a 6 p.m. match at Northern Iowa (11-8 overall, 5-0 MVC) Friday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The contest will be available on ESPN+.

The two-game road swing wraps up Saturday with the Braves taking on Drake (7-11 overall, 1-4 MVC) in a 5 p.m. match in Des Moines, Iowa, which can be viewed on ESPN3. Bradley split the regular-season series with the Bulldogs last year, but Drake claimed a five-set win in the rubber match in the 2018 MVC Tournament. Drake hosts Illinois State Friday night.

The Braves enter Friday's outing at UNI with a three-match MVC road win streak, which is the team's longest since winning the first three MVC road contests of the 2005 season. Bradley's 3-1 start to conference play marks the second consecutive year the Braves have opened league play with a 3-1 record or better. The last time Bradley had back-to-back years with 3-1 starts was 2002 (6-0) and 2003 (4-1). The Braves started the 2018 Valley schedule with a 4-0 mark.

Two of Bradley's last three home matches have gone to a fifth set with the Braves pulling out a five-set victory over I-74 rival Illinois State last Friday. Bradley, which has won consecutive matches in the series with Illinois State for the first time since three consecutive wins between the 2001 and 2002 campaigns, earned its first five-set home win against a league foe dating back to 10/7/17 (Loyola). The Braves were 4-4 in five-set matches against Valley opponents since that 2017 five-set win vs. Loyola with all four victories coming on the road. Overall, Bradley is 7-3 in its last 10 five-setters dating back to last season.

Freshman middle blocker Karagan Coggin has had a bit of a hot hand for the Braves since Valley play started, owning a .432 hitting percentage in league action. Coggin, who had a season-best 13 kills in the Sept. 30 win at Indiana State and 12 kills in Friday's five-set victory over Illinois State, has averaged 2.38 kills per set with a .467 hitting percentage in the last three matches. She is also averaging 1.06 blocks per set in Valley matches and her team-best 49 blocks this season are the most by a Bradley freshman since Amy Angelos had 73 in 2010.

Sophomore Hannah Thompson, who has turned in a school record 13 consecutive double-doubles, averaged 4.00 digs per set in the three matches against Drake last season. She enters the weekend road swing with 570 career kills as she looks to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 600 career kills as a sophomore. Thompson is already 30th in career digs at Bradley with 796 and is two double-doubles from pushing her career total (33) among the top 10 in school history.

Bradley follows up the Iowa road swing with a two-match home stand, which starts Friday, Oct. 18 with a 6 p.m. match against Valparaiso.

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Players Mentioned

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

#3 Karagan Coggin: RS/MB; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

#3 Karagan Coggin
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: RS/MB

Volleyball Hits The Road

Players Mentioned

#6 Hannah Thompson

#3 Karagan Coggin

Players Mentioned

#6 Hannah Thompson

#3 Karagan Coggin