Bradley BRAD 17-14,12-6 MVC

Chicago St. CSU 17-11,9-5 WAC

Bradley BRAD

17-14,12-6 MVC

Final

Dec. 02, 2021

Chicago St. CSU

17-11,9-5 WAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Bradley BRAD	25	25	23	25	(3)
Chicago St. CSU	17	23	25	22	(1)

Box Score

Illinois State Athletics

Braves Top Chicago St. To Advance To NIVC Second Round

Game Recap: Volleyball | 12/2/2021 10:42:00 PM

CHICAGO, Ill. – Freshman Silan Demirkol tied a season-best with 16 kills and the duo of senior Hannah Thompson and junior Karagan Coggin each added 11 kills as Bradley Volleyball advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) with a 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 victory at Chicago State Thursday.

With the win, the Braves (17-14 overall) advance to the second round of the NIVC where Bradley will face Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville Friday night in a 7 p.m. contest at Chicago State's Jones Convocation Center. Evansville swept Sam Houston State earlier in the evening at Chicago State in a first-round NIVC match.

The matchup will mark the first time two MVC volleyball programs will meet in the postseason in league history and will be the first postseason meeting for two Valley squads in any sport since a WNIT contest between Northern Iowa and Drake in 2016.

Bradley also reached the second round of the NIVC in the only other postseason appearance in program history during the 2018 campaign.

Demirkol reached double figures in kills for the fifth time this season and matched her season high with 16 kills, while hitting at a .333 clip. She also added 11 digs for her third double-double of the year.

Thompson led Bradley's defensive efforts with a season-high 27 digs to go with her 11 kills as she collected her 77^th career double-double. Coggin added 11 kills and hit .364 on the night.

Bradley hit .333 in a 25-17 opening-set victory. Demirkol notched six of her 16 kills on the night in the first set to help highlight the opener. Seeing her first action in over a month, sophomore Jasmine Green gave the Braves an 18-15 lead with back-to-back kills. Chicago State (17-11 overall) answered with two points to get back within one at 18-17, before a 7-0 BU run ended the set. Kora Kauling had back-to-back aces during the spurt and Raeann Bergman added a kill and block to help Bradley take the first.

Chicago State led by as many as six in the second set, building a 19-13 lead before the Braves rallied. Coggin had two kills and a block during a 5-1 run that cut the deficit to two at 20-18. With Bradley trailing 22-20, Bergman had three kills during another 5-1 push that put BU in front 23-22. Chicago State knotted things up at 23-23, but gave the Braves set point with a service error and an Abby Johnson kill capped a 25-23 Bradley victory.

In the third set, Chicago came from behind to force a fourth set with a 25-23 victory. Bradley held a late lead at 22-21, but back-to-back Cougar kills put Chicago State on top 23-22. A Coggin kill knotted the score for the 13^th time in the set at 23-23. A block error and kill by Yanlis Feliz, however, gave the Cougars the set at 25-23.

Like the second set, Bradley used a late surge to claim the fourth set 25-22. Chicago State led 19-17 when Thompson sparked a 3-0 Bradley run with a kill to put the Braves ahead 20-19. The Cougars had an answer and led 22-21 after the 17^th kill of the evening from Feliz. A block and back-to-back kills from Coggin gave Bradley match point at 24-22 and a kill from Kauling completed the 25-22 BU win.

Friday's 7 p.m. NIVC second-round match against Evansville will be available on ESPN+.

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