Bradley volleyball (9-16, 5-8 MVC) turned in a 1-1 record to start a four-game homestand last weekend, dropping the first match to Southern Illinois and taking down Missouri State in five sets.
On Friday, the Braves lost three consecutive sets to fall 3-1 to the Salukis. Bradley started strong by winning the first set 26-24 then lost three consecutive frames, falling 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19.
Junior Doga Topcicek paced the Braves with 19 kills on the evening while senior Abby Johnson made the winning kill to claim the first set.
Both teams traded four-point blows in the second set, but the Salukis came out on top. In the third set, SIU went on a 12-4 run but let Bradley come back to tie it at 20. Eventually, the more experienced Salukis took the third set. On the edge of defeat, Bradley ran out of steam, dropping the final set.
After falling in the first contest of the weekend, Topcicek leaned in on the importance of taking the following showdown Saturday.
“I feel like in the Missouri State game, since we had a loss on Friday, we can’t have two losses back to back right now, everyone’s mentality was ‘we have to get this game,’” Topcicek said. “Everyone was so focused.”
On Saturday, the Braves won 3-2 against Missouri State, moving up to seventh place in the MVC. In the first set, the Bears won 25-23 but Bradley took the lead by winning 26-24 and 25-17 in a hard fought second and third set,
The Braves were able to capture the lead by hitting .341 in both sets. In the second, Bradley rattled off four straight points to climb out of a 24-22 deficit, and in the third the Braves strung an eight and five-point run together to take the 2-1 set advantage.
The fourth set tied everything back up with a 25-22 Missouri State victory, bringing the Bears and Braves to a crucial winner-take-all fifth set.
With a 13-8 lead, Bradley let up four straight points to allow the Bears back in the game. Head coach Alicia Williams used a well-placed timeout and after the break, the Braves took the last two points to win the final set 15-12.
Senior Karagan Coggin led the group with 20 kills while freshman Kendall Minta provided a steady 16 for second-most on the team. Minta also led the defensive charge with a team-leading 11 blocks. Williams noted both Minta’s and the team’s defensive aggressiveness was key in this victory.
“I think defense propels our offense,” Williams said. “When we have a good defensive outing, we play really well and can score some points. It’s not that we had a bad defense Friday, it’s just I felt like we took a step up on Saturday.”
The win on Saturday was a meaningful one. The Braves struggled at the beginning of conference play but have won four of their past six. For Williams, that improvement is vital to sustain as the season begins to wind down.
“That was a really key win for us because Missouri State is sitting right on the bubble as well as us,” Williams said. “To just have a little bit of an edge on them is great, but we just gotta continue to win from here on out so we can make sure to solidify our spot.”
Next up for the Braves is a date with the top two teams in the MVC: Drake and Northern Iowa. The Braves were swept by both four weeks ago, but hope that home cooking will give them a chance to pull off a big win.
“We didn’t play very well the first time we competed against them,” Williams said. “We had four set points in the first set, it was 24-20 and [we] could not pull through. That’s sitting with us that we are capable of competing with them, but we gotta put a stamp on it and finish the way that we start matches.”
The team plays Drake today at 6 p.m. and the Braves will celebrate Senior Night the following day, taking on Northern Iowa at 5 p.m.
