Peoria, Ill. – Bradley Volleyball celebrates the program's 50th anniversary as second-year head coach
Alicia Williams revealed the 2023 Bradley Volleyball Schedule on Wednesday.
Bradley will hold their annual Red-White Scrimmage on Monday, August 14th, at 6 p.m. and will travel to Chicago for an exhibition match against DePaul on Saturday, August 19th in preseason action.
To begin regular season play, Bradley will participate in four tournaments, beginning with the CEFCU Invitational on August 25-26. Bradley will face off against SIU-Edwardsville (Aug. 25, 6:30 p.m.), Eastern Michigan (Aug. 26, 1 p.m.) and IUPUI (Aug. 26, 6 p.m.) at Reinassance Coliseum.
After the home tournament, the Braves will hit the road on consecutive weekends, traveling to Mount Pleasant, Michigan for Central Michigan's Chippewa Invitational (September 1-2) and Evansville, Indiana for the Southern Indiana Tournament (September 8-9).
One of the highlights of the non-conference season will feature the Braves hosting the Illinois Fighting Illini on September 12th at 6 p.m. After facing Illinois, Bradley will travel to Greeley, Colorado from September 14-16 for the Northern Colorado Classic, the final non-conference tournament of the season.
The Braves have a difficult beginning to Missouri Valley Conference play, facing the Iowa schools, Northern Iowa (Sep. 22, 6 p.m.) and Drake (Sep. 23, 5 p.m.) at Renaissance Coliseum. Last season, UNI and Drake combined to go 33-3 in conference play and UNI defeated Drake to win the MVC Tournament.
Bradley then begins a four-game road trip across two weeks, traveling to Belmont (Sep. 29, 6 p.m.) and Murray State (Sep. 30, 2 p.m.) to close out September and heading north to face UIC (Oct. 6, 6 p.m.) and Valparaiso (Oct. 7, 5 p.m.) in the team's first October games.
Bradley returns home to begin a five-game stretch with minimal or no travel. The Braves rematch against Murray State (Oct. 13, 6 p.m.) and Belmont (Oct. 14, 5 p.m.) on October 13-14 before making the 45-minute drive down I-74 to face Illinois State in the 91st edition of the I-74 Rivalry on October 16th. The Braves then face Indiana State (Oct. 20, 6 p.m.) and Evansville (Oct. 21, 5 p.m.) for the only time this season the following weekend.
To close October, Bradley travels to Iowa in road rematches against Drake (Oct. 27, 6 p.m.) and Northern Iowa (Oct. 28, 5 p.m.).
The Braves begin the season's final stretch with home rematches against Valparaiso (November 3, 6 p.m.) and UIC (Nov. 4, 5 p.m.) before traveling for the last time in the regular season, facing Missouri State (Nov. 10, 6 p.m.) and Southern Illinois (Nov. 11, 5 p.m.) for the only time. The Braves end the regular season against long-time foe Illinois State on Wednesday, November 15th at 6 p.m.
The Missouri Valley Tournament, held at Missouri State, will run from November 19-22, as the season ends the day before Thanksgiving.
There are notable promotions to announce for this upcoming season's contests at Renaissance Coliseum. Bradley's season-opening tournament coincides with Welcome Weekend and Educator Appreciation Day.
The Braves welcome all Club, High School and Youth Volleyball players to two of Bradley's matches this season. The first Area Volleyball Night comes against Illinois on September 12th. Club, High School and Youth Volleyball will be welcomed to Renaissance Coliseum once again for Bradley's final home game of the season to celebrate the end of the volleyball season.
Bradley's conference opening matches, held the weekend prior to homecoming, feature Parents and Family Weekend on September 22nd and ACBU Cram the Coliseum, Red Out and Student Organization Day during Bradley's match against Drake on September 23rd.
Bradley Volleyball welcomes all Volleyball campers to Bradley's match against Belmont on October 14th, coinciding with the annual Pink Out Breast Cancer Awareness match.
Bradley honors those serving our country and all First Responders on October 20th against Indiana State with Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night coming the next night against Evansville.
Volleyball's seniors will be honored on November 4th during Bradley's penultimate home game against UIC.
All home games this season will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN. Stay tuned to Bradley Volleyball's Twitter Page and Bradley Braves Athletics and bradleybraves.com for all updates and information throughout the season.
