The Braves traveled to Indiana last weekend to compete against the Indiana State Sycamores and the Evansville Aces. The team won five out of eight sets and finished 1-1 in the rollercoaster weekend.
Bradley kicked off the weekend against Indiana State, dominating to win the match 3-0 and hand the Sycamores their fourth straight loss. En route to the win, Bradley nearly set a record for aces served in a game.
“We served really well,” head coach Alicia Williams said. “We were aggressive, and I felt like we just came out really confident, which made them [the Sycamores] error a little bit. The first time we played them. They gave us a little more trouble in the first set. We were just a lot cleaner this first set, making it easier to establish ourselves and gain some confidence.”
On Saturday, Bradley faced Evansville. The last time the teams played, the Braves controlled the game and won all three sets. This time around, the Aces proved to be more challenging opponents.
Evansville won the first set 25-22, but the Braves bounced back and secured the second set 25-21. Bradley kept their momentum and cohesion in the third set, using kills and errors from the Aces to win 25-23 and take control of the game.
After winning two sets in a row, the Braves looked to close the match, but Evansville had other plans. The Aces became more efficient when serving, and errors on Bradley’s part gave Evansville a 24-26 victory.
The fifth set came down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Braves, the errors from the fourth set continued and were too much to overcome. Bradley lost the fifth set 15-10 and was defeated 3-2.
“It was one of those days that we just errored a lot,” Williams said. “When other people are erroring around you, it creates more pressure to not error. I thought we did a lot of good things; it was just that first contact that really bit us. A fifth [set] is an emotional duel, and when you’re erroring a lot, you’re probably not in the right emotional capacity to be able to overcome that set.”
The Braves are back in action at the Renaissance Coliseum for their senior night on Friday against Missouri State and Southern Illinois on Saturday.
