Volleyball Hosts CEFCU Classic

Volleyball 9/19/2019 12:39:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball returns to Renaissance Coliseum this weekend, hosting South Dakota and in-state foe Northern Illinois Friday and Saturday for the CEFCU Classic as the Braves open a season-long, four-match home stand.

The two-day tournament gets underway Friday with a noon match between South Dakota (9-1 overall) and Northern Illinois (3-9 overall). Bradley (3-6 overall) will face South Dakota, which reached last year's NCAA Tournament, Friday night at 7 p.m.

Saturday's action features just one contest with the Braves taking on Northern Illinois in a 2 p.m. match in the annual Cram the Coliseum event as part of Bradley's Family Weekend festivities.

Last year's Cram the Coliseum event drew a crowd of 1,348 fans for the third largest attendance number in Bradley Volleyball history. In fact, the 2017 Cram the Coliseum match had 1,184 fans for the fourth largest attendance in Renaissance Coliseum. The four previous Cram the Coliseums have resulted in four of the five largest crowds in Renaissance Coliseum history with the lone exception being the first match played at Renaissance Coliseum in 2010 (1,752).

Both of Bradley's matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three contests.

This weekend's CEFCU Classic at Renaissance Coliseum marks the second and final home tournament of 2019 for the Braves. Bradley went 2-1 at the CEFCU Invitational earlier this season, claiming the team title via a tiebreaker. Overall, the Braves are 63-37 (.630) when hosting an in-season tournament, which includes a 13-3 (.813) mark under fourth-year head coach Carol Price-Torok and 12-1 record in the last 13 non-conference home matches.

The CEFCU Classic marks the final non-conference matches of the season with Bradley trying to end the non-conference slate with a victory for a third consecutive year. Saturday's match against Northern Illinois (Sept. 21) will be the latest the Braves have finished the non-conference portion of the schedule dating back to 2011 when BU hosted Loyola on Oct. 25.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Pranger came up with a big performance in Saturday's five-set match against Murray State, finishing with a season-high 18 kills and career-best 30 digs. Pranger, who earned a spot on the UIC Invitational All-Tournament team and has three double-doubles on the year, had the highest dig total for a Bradley player other than a libero since Briony Hammet had a then school-record 38 digs at Evansville on Oct. 22, 2005. In fact, Pranger's 18 kills were the most in a 30-dig performance by a Brave dating back to when Blythe Zajakowski had 21 kills and 30 digs against Valparaiso on Sept. 29, 1990. The last MVC player to collect at least 18 kills and 30 or more digs in a match was Missouri State's Lily Johnson at Drake on Oct. 13, 2017. Pranger is averaging 2.72 kills and 3.03 digs per set this fall.

Outside hitter Hannah Thompson is one of a handful players in the nation to lead their team in both kills and digs, but the sophomore is in even more exclusive company. Through matches of Sept. 15, Thompson is the only player in the nation to have 100 or more kills and at least 150 digs. Thompson ranks 70th nationally in digs per set this season. She has posted seven consecutive double-doubles entering the final weekend of non-conference action and is nine kills short of becoming just the eighth player in school history to reach 500 career kills as a sophomore. Four of the seven individuals in school history to collect 500 career kills by the end of their sophomore season are in BU's Hall of Fame with two of the three exceptions not yet eligible. The last to do so was Erica Haslag in 2016. Current Northern Illinois assistant coach Amy Angelos (2010-13) is also in the group and ranks ninth in Bradley history with 1,124 career kills.

Bradley won its first two home matches of 2019 to extend its non-conference home win streak to 12 matches before suffering a four-set loss to DePaul on Sept. 7. The 12-match non-conference home win streak was the longest for the Braves dating back to a 16-match non-conference home win streak between the 1996 and 2001 campaigns. The Braves are 16-2 in their last 18 home contests and Bradley is 13-4 at home against non-conference opponents under head coach Carol Price-Torok.

The Braves follow up this weekend's CEFCU Classic by opening the Missouri Valley Conference portion of the schedule with a pair of home contests against Southern Illinois (Sept. 27) and Missouri State (Sept. 28).

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Players Mentioned

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

#21 Rachel Pranger: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

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

#21 Rachel Pranger
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: OH

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

Volleyball Hosts CEFCU Classic

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#21 Rachel Pranger

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#3 Erica Haslag

#21 Rachel Pranger

#6 Hannah Thompson