PEORIA, Ill. -- The nearly completed Bradley arena will see its first athletic competition Friday, August 27 when the Bradley volleyball team opens the 2010 season at home against Western Illinois as part of the Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational announced by third-year BU head coach Sean Burdette Friday.
A year removed from playing the second most home matches in the country (19), the Braves will take the court at the Bradley arena a total of 17 times in 2010, beginning with the season-opening Hotels at Grand Prairie Invitational (Aug. 27 & 28). The Braves face in-state foe Western Illinois at 7 p.m. on Aug. 27 in the first Bradley Athletic event in the new facility. The tournament also includes Saturday matches against South Carolina-Upstate (noon) and Southeast Missouri State (7 p.m.).
"We are excited to be moving into our new home," Burdette said. "Our fans were great at the Markin Family Student Recreation Student Center last season and I am confident they will help make our new arena a tough environment for our opponents. After a strong spring season, we look to carrying that over into the Fall."
Season tickets are available at the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office at Shea Stadium (1523 W. Nebraska Ave., Peoria, Ill) for $50 for adults and $25 for children (K-12). Personal Seat Options (PSO) also are available through the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office. Included in the PSO are volleyball and women's basketball season tickets in addition to preferred status to purchase tickets in their seat(s) for all other events in the new arena, excluding commencement ceremonies, during a 12-month period from August 2010-July 2011. For more information please call (309) 677-2625.
The CEFCU Classic will be held Sept. 10 & 11 and features matches against Hofstra, Presbyterian and Summit League foe Valparaiso, which is coming off a 22-11 season in 2009. The non-conference slate also includes home games against Loyola-Chicago (Sept. 28) and Chicago State (Oct. 26).
After a mid-week contest at in-state foe Northern Illinois (Aug. 31), the Braves will head to College Park, Md., for a tournament hosted by the University of Maryland. The trip to the Old Line State is the third in program history, but will mark Bradley's first trip to Maryland since the 1990 campaign. In addition to taking on tournament-host Maryland for the first time since the two teams met at Penn State in the 1999 season opener, the Braves will face Big East Conference foe Georgetown and Fordham. Bradley holds a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with Maryland and boasts a 2-0 advantage against the Hoyas. The Braves faced Georgetown twice during the 1985 campaign, including a four-set victory in BU's first-ever trip to Maryland for a tournament.
Bradley opens Missouri Valley Conference play at home against NCAA Tournament participant Wichita State on Sept. 17 and wraps up the first weekend of league action against Missouri State (Sept. 18) to conclude a season-long five-match homestand. The Braves first conference road swing opens with a contest at Drake on Sept. 24 to end a four-match stretch against 20-win teams from 2009.
The home schedule also includes defending regular-season Valley champ and NCAA Tournament qualifier Northern Iowa on Nov. 5 and I-74 rival Illinois State makes its first visit to the Bradley arena on Thursday, Nov. 11. The Braves final home match of the season is slated for Saturday, Nov. 13 against Indiana State.
The top six teams in the MVC regular-season standings will advance to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship which will be held Nov. 25-27 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
