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Volleyball wins sixth in a row; tied for second in MVC

Hannah Thompson spikes. Photo courtesy of Evan Temchin/Bradley University

Bradley volleyball (15-11 overall, 11-4 MVC) kept the good times rolling this past weekend, picking up victories over Indiana State and Evansville to extend their win streak to a season-high of six matches.

On Nov. 12, the Braves swept the Sycamores 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 behind a season-high 16 kills from freshman Silan Demirkol, her fourth game with double-digit kills this season. The outside hitter hit at a .412 clip to collect her second MVC Freshman of the Week award of the season.

Senior Kora Kauling was one dig shy of a double-double, finishing with nine on the night along with 27 assists. Senior Hannah Thompson led the team with 22 digs on her way to her first-ever MVC Defensive Player of the Week award.

Bradley has now won its last six matches against Indiana State dating back to 2019, a feat head coach Carol Price-Torok said is a result of the favorable competition.

“I think it’s a good matchup for us,” Price-Torok said. “They really try to run a lot through our middles and so do we, so I think our middles played really well this weekend offensively and defensively, and I thought we did a really, really great job from the service line.”

Kauling shined on Senior Day against Evansville, notching her elusive second triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 27 assists and 12 digs, marking the first time a Brave has captured multiple triple-doubles in a season since 2000. 

Kauling stays humble but knows it’s a big achievement.

“I never thought I’d be able to get a triple-double, let alone two,” Kauling said. “Obviously, the cause of that success is mainly being able to score and I’ve also been improving a lot of my defense.”

Kauling wasn’t the only senior to have a big day, as Thompson recorded the 74th double-double of her career with 12 kills and 14 digs, putting her over 1,300 kills and 1,800 digs for her career. She is the third player in MVC history to reach both marks and the first player in the entire NCAA to do so since 2003. 

Five Braves finished with eight or more kills against the Aces as Bradley won 26-24, 25-13, 25-27, 25-21. Evansville’s attack errors ended up being its downfall, as the team committed 26 to Bradley’s 12. 

The Braves’ six-match win streak ties the longest single-season conference streak in school history, which was accomplished last season. This is also their second straight year starting 11-4 in MVC play, and Price-Torok credits the younger players as the key factor.

“I think things are just kind of clicking,” Price-Torok said. “We’re getting some of those kids that didn’t have as much game experience. Some of our freshmen are really helping us as of late, just getting us into a groove setting-wise.”

To sustain the streak, Kauling thinks they just need to keep doing what they’re doing.

“We just have to continue to control our side of the net,” Kauling said. “I think that when we’re all on the same page and we’re firing on all cylinders, we’re a pretty difficult team to beat.”

Bradley heads into the weekend tied for second in the conference with Illinois State, who the Braves will see next weekend in the final match of the regular season. First, it’s a meeting with top-seeded Loyola, who Bradley will have a chance to overtake in the standings, depending on the weekend’s results.

“We have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder playing Loyola and ISU just because they were really tight matches [at home],” Price-Torok said. “Ourselves included, it’s a really big weekend for the top of the conference to kind of see how things will shake down. We’re just trying to take it one set, one match at a time to put ourselves in a great position going into the conference tournament in two weeks.”

Bradley’s match against Loyola kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. and is available to watch on ESPN+.

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