Oct. 24, 2012
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Opponents:
Bradley - Friday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m.
UNI - Saturday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
Site: Hammons Student Center
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Live Audio: Bears All-Access
Live Stats: --
Live Video: Bears All-Access
Missouri State (11-12, 5-6 Missouri Valley Conference) joins in the Homecoming festivities this weekend by hosting a pair of matches, taking on Bradley at 7 p.m. Friday and Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hammons Student Center.
The Opponents
Bradley is 8-14 overall and 2-9 in MVC play. The Braves have swept Indiana State and Evansville in the last two weeks to break out of a slump in which they lost 14 of 15 matches. As a team, BU hits .188 compared to .224 for opponents and averages 12.41 kills, 1.06 aces, 15.20 digs and 1.89 blocks per set.
UNI is 19-6 overall and once again sits atop the league standings at 10-1, though the Panthers did suffer their first conference loss since 2008 at Creighton earlier this month. UNI is at or near the league lead in nearly every statistical category, averaging 14.47 kills, 0.98 aces, 17.87 digs and 2.42 blocks per set while hitting .237 and limiting the opposition to .168.
The Series
Missouri State holds a 44-8 series edge with Bradley and has won 23 of the last 24 meetings with the Braves, the loss coming in Peoria in 2008.
The all-time series with UNI is 44-19 in favor of the Panthers. UNI has won the last seven meetings after the Bears won six of 13 from 2004-08.
First Meetings This Season
The Bears swept BU on Sept. 29 in Peoria, getting 12 kills on .476 hitting from Andrea Beaty and a career-high nine blocks from Amber Doolittle.
UNI took the season's first meeting by a 3-0 final Sept. 28 in Cedar Falls, hitting .379 in the match for the highest efficiency against Missouri State in 2012.
Last Week
The Bears suffered a pair of close losses at Evansville and Southern Illinois last week.
At Evansville, Missouri State dropped each set by two points, with two of those sets extending to 27-25 scores. The Bears held a set point in two of the sets in a match that could have gone either way.
Saturday, Andrea Beaty had 14 kills and seven blocks in a 3-1 loss to SIU. The fourth set went 25-23 in favor of the Salukis in another near toss-up.
