Peoria, Ill. - Bradley Volleyball (4-12, 0-4 MVC) continues its home stand in Valley play by welcoming I-74 rival Illinois State (8-7, 1-3 MVC) to Renaissance Coliseum on Tuesday for a 6:00 p.m. first serve.
PRE-MATCH LINKS
Watch Live (ESPN+)
Live Stats
Tickets
PROMOTIONS
42" TV (Student Giveaway - After 2nd Set)
Foam Fingers (All Fans - As Supplies Last)
Free Pizza (First 100 Students)
SERIES HISTORY
As mentioned, Tuesday's battle in Peoria is the 89th meeting in series history between the two I-74 rivals. The Redbirds have won the last three consecutive meetings, with Bradley's last win coming by virtue of a 3-0 sweep in Renaissance Coliseum in February of 2021. Illinois State holds the all-time series lead by a 72-16 margin. Bradley is 3-2 in the past five meetings in Peoria.
HOW THE BRAVES MATCH UP
The Braves are looking to rebound off of a current five-match skid as Illinois State comes to Peoria. Within those five matches, two have been decided in five-set thrillers. The latest matchup was one such match against the Valparaiso Beacons.
The first four sets versus the Beacons were all decided by three or fewer points. In the narrow loss, the Braves saw two individuals reach double-doubles, with
Doga Topcicek (20 kills, 14 digs) and
Silan Demirkol (12 kills, 29 digs) sparking the Bradley effort. The Braves had three aces in the match, all of which came with libero
Serena Sparks at the service line.
The Braves had quality hitting percentages from their front row all weekend, the UIC match included, with the fifth set mark of .088 the only time Bradley hit below .100.
Karagan Coggin led the Braves in that mark at .308.
ABOUT THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State enters Renaissance Coliseum hungry for the win column just like the Braves, having dropped four of their past five matches since a five-set win over then-#25 Illinois on September 17th.
The Redbirds are led by first-year head coach Allie Matters, who previously held the same position for Wright State for four seasons.
ISU features an attack with two players battling for the team lead in kills. Kaitlyn Prondzinski (150) and Sarah Kushner (141) lead the way thus far. Kushner was just honored prior to the Redbirds' match versus Valparaiso on Friday for having eclipsed 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Kaity Weimerskirch leads the Redbirds' serving efforts, totaling 20 aces, with four teammates within six such serves of her.
AFTER TUESDAY, WHAT'S NEXT?
The Braves will hit the road for a pair of Missouri Valley Conference matches following their battle with Illinois State. Friday, they'll head to Cedar Falls to face Northern Iowa, before taking on Drake in Des Moines the following day.
