Missouri State MSU 11-5, 2-2 MVC

Bradley BRAD 7-8, 3-1 MVC

Missouri State MSU

11-5, 2-2 MVC

Final

Oct. 02, 2021

Bradley BRAD

7-8, 3-1 MVC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Missouri State MSU	23	25	24	12	(1)
Bradley BRAD	25	18	26	25	(3)

Box Score

Josh Schwam

Volleyball Tops Missouri St. For Third Straight Win

Box Score

Game Recap: Volleyball | 10/2/2021 7:15:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball used a balanced attack and boasted its best hitting percentage against a conference opponent in nearly two years with the Braves hitting .312 in a 25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-12 victory over visiting Missouri State Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Senior Kora Kauling and junior Karagan Coggin tied for team-high honors with 15 kills each as they combined to hit .520 in the match. Kauling, who finished with a career-high 15 kills and hit .583 in the contest, finished two digs short of a triple-double as she tallied 33 assists, eight digs, one ace and three blocks. Coggin attacked at a .462 clip in the win as Bradley boasted its best attack percentage against a conference opponent dating back to a .319 hitting percentage against Indiana State on Nov. 23, 2019.

Making her first career start, freshman Silan Demirkol collected 14 kills and a team-best 20 digs to go with seven assists and a pair of aces. Senior Hannah Thompson added her 68th career double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs as she passed Stephanie Behrns (1,194 career kill) for seventh on Bradley's career kills list. Thompson's 68 career double-doubles is now one short of matching the Bradley career mark of 69 and she pushed her career kill total to 1,196.

Bradley (7-8 overall, 3-1 MVC) held on to second in the MVC standings with the victory and is now 24-5 at Renaissance Coliseum against Missouri Valley Conference opponents since the start of the 2018 season. The .312 attack percentage marked just the second time in the all-time series the Braves hit .300 or better against Missouri State as the Braves won their third consecutive home contest in the series.

The Braves started out the afternoon strong, hitting .375 in the first set and took the opener 25-23 behind six kills, five digs and two blocks by Thompson. Neither team led by more than three at any point in a first set which featured 13 ties and four lead changes. Thompson snapped a 22-22 tie with her sixth kill of the frame and Bradley held set point at 24-22 after a Missouri State (11-5, 2-2 MVC) error. The Bears pulled within one at 24-23 on an Azyah Green kill, before Kauling capped a 25-23 Bradley victory with one of her career-best 15 kills.

Missouri State forced eight Bradley errors in the second set and answered with a 25-18 win to even the match at one set each. The Bears used a 5-0 spurt midway through to build a 14-8 advantage, only to have the Braves respond with four consecutive points to cut the deficit to two at 14-12. The Missouri State lead was 19-15 when the Bears put things out of reach with a 4-1 push. Bradley hit .094 in a 25-18 setback.

After four kills on just six swings in the second set, Kauling added five kills on eight attacks and six digs in the third set. Bradley hit .304 in the stanza and held off a late Missouri State surge to take the third set 26-24. The Braves led by as many as five (23-18), before Missouri State clawed back into it with a 4-0 run. A Demirkol kill gave Bradley set point at 24-22, only to have Missouri State collect back-to-back kills to pull even at 24-24. Kauling gave BU a 25-24 edge with her fifth kill of the set and a Demirkol ace gave Bradley the set 26-24.

Bradley took control of the fourth set with a 7-1 run and never looked back, cruising to a 25-12 victory to seal the match. Kauling had two kills, a block and two assists during the 7-1 run that gave the Braves a 9-3 advantage. With BU owning a 17-10 lead, Kauling sparked another four-point push with a kill and ace to help Bradley extend the lead to 21-10. Demirkol later gave the Braves match point at 24-12 with a kill and buried an overpass for the final point of the night. Bradley hit a blistering .429 in the final set with six Braves collecting three of more kills in the frame and BU collecting 21 points on kills.

Amelia Flynn led Missouri State with 21 kills, while Kate Owen collected a match-high 22 digs to pace the Bears.

Bradley hits the road next weekend, opening a two-match MVC road swing Friday with a 6 p.m. contest at Evansville.

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