Volleyball Heads To Windy City For NIVC Matchup At Chicago St.

Illinois State Athletics

Volleyball 12/1/2021 10:17:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Making the second postseason trip in program history, Bradley Volleyball received a spot in the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) and will face Chicago State on the road Thursday night (7:30 p.m.) in a first-round contest at Chicago State's Jones Convocation Center.

Bradley (17-14 overall) is playing in the NIVC for the second time, also participating in the event in 2018 when the Braves reached the second round of the tournament after a five-set victory against Bowling Green.

Chicago State (17-10 overall) tied for second in the West Division of the Western Athletic Conference at 9-5 this fall after a 2020-21 season in which the Cougars went 1-9.

The winner of Thursday's matchup between Bradley and Chicago State will advance to Friday's second round to face the winner of Thursday's other opening round match at the Jones Convocation Center between MVC rival Evansville (19-11 overall, 9-9 MVC) and WAC Southwest Division champion Sam Houston (18-9 overall, 10-3 WAC) in a 7 p.m. match in Chicago.

Bradley owns an 11-4 lead in the all-time series with Chicago State with Thursday's outing marking the first matchup between the two in-state foes since a match in Peoria in 2017. Chicago State won the last meeting, edging the Braves in five sets back on Sept. 5, 2017 to snap a nine-match BU win streak in the all-time series. Six of the last seven contests in the series have been played in Peoria with Bradley's last road match in the series falling during the 1999 campaign.

Bradley has a 12-7 record against current members of the Western Athletic Conference, which includes the 11-4 mark in the all-time series with Thursday opponent Chicago State. The Braves have won their last two matches against teams from the WAC with both of those victories falling in 2017 at home against Grand Canyon and then WAC member Kansas City. Bradley has previously faced WAC newcomers Lamar (1987), Sam Houston (2014) and Stephen F. Austin (2019). BU's last true road match against a team from the WAC was at Kansas City in 2016.

Only three active Braves have experience in the postseason with seniors Hannah Thompson and Rachel Pranger both playing in the 2018 NIVC for Bradley and fellow senior Kora Kauling helping Wichita State reach the second round of that same 2018 NIVC before transferring to BU. Pranger saw action in just four of Bradley's eight sets in the 2018 NIVC, while Thompson averaged 2.75 kills and 4.50 digs per set in the two outings. In fact, Thompson had a double-double (13 kills & 22 digs) to help highlight a five-set, opening-round victory over Bowling Green and was a kill short of another double-double (nine kills & 14 digs) against eventual champion Iowa State in the second round. Kauling averaged 8.67 assists and 1.78 digs per set between a five-set, opening-round win over Central Arkansas (50 assists & 10 digs) and four-set loss to North Texas (28 assists & six digs) in the NIVC Second Round for the Shockers.

Helped by a 40-13 home record over the last four seasons, Bradley has certainly had its fair share of success in the Land of Lincoln during that stretch with the Braves owning a 47-21 (.691) record in the Prairie State since the start of the 2018 campaign. During that span, Bradley is 6-6 in true road contests played in the state of Illinois and 7-8 in road/neutral site matches. The Braves have played just one in-state non-conference opponent on the road over the last four seasons (at UIC in 2019) and have a total of four non-conference true road contests against in-state foes over the last 11 years.

Bradley enters Thursday's match at Chicago State with a 6-6 mark in true road contests this season, which included a 5-4 road record in MVC play. The six true road wins are the most for the Braves since closing the 2005 campaign with a 6-8 record in true road matches. The last time Bradley finished a season with at least a .500 road record was 2002 (6-6) and the Braves have not finished a season with a winning record on the road since 2001 (9-4).

Bradley played five matches against teams that will play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and the Braves had a total of 12 matches this fall against teams that reached the postseason. In fact, five of BU's last six outings have been against teams that will participate in a postseason tournament with the lone exception during that span MVC regular-season champion Loyola. Bradley's last six opponents have combined for a 118-67 (.638) record.

Among the four teams playing in the NIVC Regional at Chicago State this week, Bradley has the most matches against RPI top 100 teams (11) and BU's 12 outings against teams in the postseason is the most in the regional. Sam Houston played 10 matches against postseason squads. The Braves owned a 5-7 record this season against teams that made the postseason.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling: S; 6' 2"; Senior

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

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling
: 6' 2"; Senior
: S

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

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

Volleyball Heads To Windy City For NIVC Matchup At Chicago St.

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling

#21 Rachel Pranger

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling

#21 Rachel Pranger

#6 Hannah Thompson