Volleyball Opens Season At Home With CEFCU Invitational

Evan Temchin

Volleyball 8/25/2021 3:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- For the first time since 2013 and just the eighth time in the last 30 years Bradley Volleyball will open the season at home, with the Braves hosting the CEFCU Invitational Friday and Saturday at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley welcomes Central Michigan, DePaul and Southeast Missouri State to Renaissance Coliseum for the first of two home tournaments on the 2021 schedule.

Tournament play begins Friday afternoon with DePaul facing Southeast Missouri State at 3 p.m. and the Braves taking on Central Michigan at 6:30 p.m. In addition to marking the first match against Central Michigan since 1988, Friday's outing against the Chippewas will mark the first of six "Free Food Fridays presented by Papa John's" during the 2021 campaign with Bradley students in attendance receiving a coupon for a free Papa John's Papadia.

The CEFCU Invitational continues Saturday with four matches, starting with a 10 a.m. matchup between Central Michigan and DePaul. The Braves face Southeast Missouri State at 12:30 p.m. with Southeast Missouri State returning to the court later that afternoon for a match against Central Michigan at 4:30 p.m. The tournament wraps up with Bradley taking on in-state foe DePaul in a 7 p.m. tilt.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all six matches of the CEFCU Invitational. The three matches featuring the Braves will be streamed, with Friday's match vs. Central Michigan and Saturday's outing against DePaul on ESPN3; while the Saturday afternoon contest against Southeast Missouri State will be available on ESPN+.

Bradley has claimed the season opener in eight of the last 12 seasons and own a 25-22 overall record in season openers. The Braves have won the last seven season openers played at home dating back to a five-set loss to Missouri to kick off the 1990 campaign and are 10-1 when playing the season opener at home since joining the Gateway Conference in 1983.

Bradley has won its home opener each of the past three years and the Braves are 21-18 in home openers dating back to 1982. Last year, Bradley swept MVC regular-season champion Illinois State in the home opener and the Braves are 10-1 in the last 11 matches played at Renaissance Coliseum. Bradley is 9-2 at home against non-conference opponents over the last three years and the Braves are 14-5 under Head Coach Carol Price-Torok at home against non-conference foes.

After not playing a single non-conference match during the abbreviated 2020-21 season, Bradley will host a pair of tournaments during the non-conference portion of the 2021 schedule. Overall, the Braves are 64-38 (.627) when hosting an in-season tournament, which includes a 14-4 (.778) mark under Price-Torok. Bradley has hosted at least one tournament in 12 of the last 14 years and 16 of the last 19 seasons.

Bradley won its first eight home matches of the 2020-21 season before a four-set loss to Northern Iowa to close out the regular-season slate snapped what was a 10-match home win streak dating back to late in the 2019 campaign. The 10-match home win streak was Bradley's longest since a 12-game home win streak to start the 2018 campaign. The Braves 8-1 record at home was the team's second-best home mark in school history behind only the 2018 squad that went 14-1 at Renaissance Coliseum. Bradley is 31-7 at Renaissance Coliseum since the start of that 2018 season. Overall, Bradley is 40-24 at home under Price-Torok after the Braves went a combined 26-55 at home in the first six years at Renaissance Coliseum.

Senior Hannah Thompson enters the 2021 season poised to break Bradley's career digs record and the outside hitter is also closing in on the top 10 in career kills at Bradley. Thompson, who notched her 1,000th career kill in BU's MVC Tournament semifinal loss to Illinois State, is second in school history with 1,418 career digs and sits just 20 digs short of breaking the school mark of 1,437 career digs set by Rachelle Dejean (2008-11). Currently 13th in Bradley history with 1,007 career kills, Thompson is one of just 15 players in MVC history with 1,000 career kills and 1,400 or more digs and is the only active player in the nation to have reached both marks. She heads into the weekend needing just 37 kills to move into the top 10 in school history in the category.

Bradley follows up the CEFCU Invitational with a trip to Rochester, Mich., for the Golden Grizzlies Invitational Sept. 3 & 4, where the Braves will play matches against tournament-host Oakland and Eastern Michigan.

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Players Mentioned

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

Players Mentioned

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

Volleyball Opens Season At Home With CEFCU Invitational

Players Mentioned

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#6 Hannah Thompson