After winning its first conference match of the season last week, the Bradley women’s volleyball team dropped both games of its road trip.
Last Friday, the Braves visited conference rival Illinois State, where they had trouble stringing together points. Bradley lost the first two sets, but battled back to win the third, lead by freshman Allison Turner, with a team-high 12 kills in the match. The Braves fell behind early in the fourth set and were held to only seven kills the rest of the way, losing the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
On Saturday they travelled to Terre Haute to take on Indiana State, where they were swept 3-0. Indiana State got off to a fast start, winning the first set 25-6, and continued their momentum into set two.
Bradley cut a five-point lead late in the third period, lead by junior Kelsey Cave who had two kills and a block during a 6-1 run. The Braves had the Sycamores on the ropes down one point 24-23, but a service error by the Braves sealed the win for Indiana State.
Head coach Jenny Maurer explained how tough it is to win on the road in such a strong conference.
“Aside from the first set against Illinois State, we hung with and even took a set from a team that returned its two leading scorers from its 2014 MVC Championship team and added a transfer who was a Prep High School All-American,” Maurer said.
At Indiana State, Maurer said the Braves ran into a “team with four senior starters on a mission to finish the final home match of their career with a W.”
“Our service errors, combined with their momentum carrying over from their upset against second-ranked Loyola on Friday night, was too much for us,” Maurer said.
On Saturday, freshman Erica Haslag pushed her season kill total to 259, which is the most for a Bradley freshman since 2002 and the sixth most kills for a freshman in Bradley volleyball history.
“Erica has been the catalyst for our offense this entire season,” Maurer said. “She has a scorer’s mentality and wants the ball regardless of where she is on the court.”
Maurer says the team is showing marked improvement in the second half of MVC play, attacking Illinois State at a higher percentage than the first time and holding both offenses this weekend to a hitting average .100 percent lower than before.
“We are without a doubt, moving in the right direction and showing progress with a majority of our offense returning next year,” Maurer said.
The Braves will continue MVC play at home next today against Missouri State and Wichita State on Saturday.
