Volleyball Closes Home Schedule With Weekend Home Stand

Volleyball 11/4/2021 12:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Volleyball brings a season-long, four-match win streak into the final home stand of the season, with the Braves hosting Indiana State (Friday) and Evansville (Saturday) at Renaissance Coliseum to close out the regular-season home schedule.

Road wins at Missouri State and Southern Illinois last weekend pushed Bradley (13-11 overall, 9-4 MVC) into third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with three weekends left in the regular season.

Friday's 6 p.m. match against Indiana State (13-9 overall, 5-7 MVC), which is currently sixth in the league standings, will be available on ESPN+ and will also be Parochial School Night with children eighth grade and under receiving free admission and tickets for parents just $3.

Bradley wraps up the home schedule Saturday afternoon against Evansville (17-6 overall, 7-5 MVC) in a 5 p.m. contest on ESPN3. Saturday will be Alumni Night in addition to Senior Night with the Braves recognizing the senior class immediately following the match. The Purple Aces sit in fifth in the Valley standings heading into a Friday night match at Illinois State.

Bradley owns a 45-32 lead in the all-time series with Indiana State after topping the Sycamores in four sets in Terre Haute, Ind., in early October. The Braves have won five straight in the series and claimed four consecutive contests against Indiana State played at Renaissance Coliseum. BU is 7-4 against the Sycamores under Head Coach Carol Price-Torok. Overall, Bradley owns a 27-9 mark at home in the series against the Sycamores, which includes a 9-3 record at Renaissance Coliseum.

Evansville snapped a seven-match Bradley win streak in the series with a three-set victory in Evansville, Ind., back on Oct. 8, but the Braves hold a 35-25 advantage in the all-time series. Bradley is 8-3 against the Aces under Price-Torok, which includes a perfect 4-0 mark at home. The Braves have managed to at least split the regular-season series in each of the last seven seasons. Bradley has won six consecutive home matches against Evansville and the Braves are 7-3 in the series at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley has just two home matches in the month of November for the first time since 2013 (2) and Saturday's home finale against Evansville marks the earliest BU closes out the home slate dating back to 2012 (Nov. 3). The Braves are 20-18 on Senior Day and have won back-to-back Senior Day contests (2019 & 2018) after Bradley did not have a senior on the 2020-21 roster. BU will face Evansville in the final home contest of the year for the first time since 2000 and has split two meetings with the Purple Aces when hosting UE in the final home match of the year (1997).

Since closing out the 2017 season with a home loss to Indiana State, Bradley has won nine consecutive home matches against teams from the state of Indiana. In fact, the Braves are 17-5 against teams from Hoosier State over the last four seasons, which includes a 7-2 mark the past two seasons.

Senior Hannah Thompson enters the final home stand of the year nearing a pair of milestones, needing eight kills to reach 1,300 in her career and is 29 digs for 1,800. Thompson is looking to become just the third individual in Missouri Valley Conference history with 1,300 career kills and at least 1,800 digs, hoping to join Illinois State's Chris Rehor (1985-88) and Evansville's Julie Groves (1997-00). In fact, Thompson would be the first player nationally to reach both career marks since 2003.

Posting eight of her 10 double-doubles in Valley play, senior Kora Kauling has averaged 2.11 kills per set while hitting at a .299 clip in Bradley's 13 wins. She also averages 7.57 assists, 0.23 aces, 2.00 digs and 0.57 blocks per set when the Braves win. Bradley is 8-2 this year when Kauling has a double-double, with the Braves winning 14 consecutive Valley matches when she has a double-double dating back to last season. Overall, Bradley 14-4 over the last two seasons when Kauling posts a double-double.

Junior setter Carlee Camlin served up a career-best six aces to help highlight Saturday's sweep at Southern Illinois and now owns a team-best 22 aces on the year. Camlin, who has served up 18 aces in MVC play and ranks fifth in the league in aces per set in league action, had the most aces by a Brave in a three-set match since Lindsay Stalzer served up six aces against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 6, 2003. Over the last seven matches, Camlin has collected 14 aces to average 0.48 aces per set over that stretch. During that same span, Bradley has averaged 1.53 aces per set compared to 1.12 aces per set in the first 17 matches of the year.

Fellow junior Karagan Coggin leads the MVC in hitting percentage in league contests, boasting a .365 attack percentage in Valley matches. Coggin has certainly had her fair share of success at home, boasting a .407 hitting percentage against MVC opponents in matches played at Renaissance Coliseum. She has collected 2.61 kills per set in those contests, in addition to averaging 0.71 blocks per set. In 36 career outings at Renaissance Coliseum, Coggin has attacked at a .295 clip and collected 1.99 kills per set vs. a .236 hitting percentage and 1.83 kills per set away from home.

Bradley opens a three-match road swing to finish out the regular-season schedule, Friday, Nov. 12 at league-leading Loyola (6 p.m.).

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