Doors to the ISU Arena open up at 6 p.m. each night. The first 100 fans attending the game Friday night will receive a free t-shirt from Sycamore Volleyball.

The Sycamores will be battling an up and coming Bradley team on Friday who showed resilience on the home court last Saturday when they rallied from a two set deficit to defeat the Southern Illinois Salukis 3-2. It was Bradley's first league win during the month of September since the 2005 season and the first time since 1999 that the Braves rallied from two sets down against a conference opponent to post a win.

Northern Iowa has dominated the Missouri Valley Conference the past two seasons as they were undefeated in conference play. They also swept through the last two MVC Tournaments. The Panthers swept Southern Illinois and Evansville on the home court to up their MVC win streak to 42 games. Northern Iowa plays at Illinois State on Friday before travelling to Terre Haute.

The Sycamores (8-5 overall and 0-2 in the Valley) are coming off a disappointing opening weekend of Valley play as they were swept at Wichita State on Friday and at Missouri State Saturday. Indiana State stepped out of the conference on Tuesday to post their seventh three-set victory of the season as they visited the Chicago State Cougars and came away with a 3-0 victory. The win was the second on a hostile court for the Sycamores who are now 4-2 away from the ISU Arena (2-2 away and 2-0 on neutral courts).

Several sophomores led the way to the victory at Chicago State including Monique Morris who had a game high 14 kills and tied her career high with four aces. Loni Mackinson had a career high 30 assists, Molly Murphy tied her career high with seven kills, and Ashley Owen had a career high six kills. Freshman Samantha Kersting had a career high seven kills.

SYCAMORES IN THE RANKINGS

Junior outside hitter Morgan Dall is one of the top hitters in the nation and is ranked 10th nationally with 4.8 kills per set which also leads the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamore junior also ranks ninth nationally in points per set at 5.43 and 85th in aces per set at 0.4. Dall is tied for third in service aces per set (0.4) among Valley athletes. Dall finished her sophomore campaign with a 4.11 kills per set average (30th nationally) and 4.49 points per set (41st nationally).

Senior middle blocker Stacey Qualizza is also making her mark on the national scene as she ranks 27th nationally in hitting percentage at .393 which also leads the Missouri Valley Conference. The senior has a career hitting percentage of .277 which is the third best all-time in ISU history. She finished the 2010 season with a .289 hitting percentage (sixth best single season in ISU history).

Senior libero Kiya James currently ranks 52nd nationally in digs per set at 4.93 which also ranks her second in the Missouri Valley Conference. James has 1,412 career digs (fourth best all-time) and a 3.75 career digs per set average (second best all-time).

Sophomores Molly Murphy and Monique Morris are nationally ranked in aces per set while senior Shelbi Fouty is nationally ranked in assists per set. Murphy is averaging 0.33 aces per set which ranks her 190th nationally and eighth in the Valley while Morris is averaging 0.32 aces per set which ranks her 209th nationally and ninth in the Valley.  Fouty is averaging 8.3 assists per set which ranks her 206th nationally and ninth in the Valley. Fouty has 1,424 career assists (eighth best all-time) and has a 4.12 career assists per set average (11th best all-time).

The Sycamore team is ranked 52nd nationally in aces per set (1.55), 77th in hitting percentage (.232), 102nd in digs per set (15.35), 134th in kills per set (12.60), and 145th in assists per set (11.55).

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE -

The Indiana State Sycamores (8-5, 0-2) opened the Missouri Valley Conference campaign on the road for the second straight year battling perennial powers Wichita State and Missouri State. It wasn't a good start for the Sycamores who dropped both contests by 0-3 counts as they lost at Wichita State 14-25, 19-25, 15-25 and then fell at Missouri State 19-25, 17-25, 17-25. Indiana State bounced back with a 3-0 non-conference win at Chicago State Tuesday as they defeated the Cougars 25-19, 26-24, 25-16.

Junior outside hitter Morgan Dall continues to lead the Sycamore attack with 4.80 kills per set while senior middle blocker is averaging 2.49 kills per set, sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris 2.19 kills per set, and junior right side hitter Shea Doran 2.00 kills per set. Senior Shelbi Fouty leads Indiana State in setting at 8.12 assists per set while sophomore Loni Mackinson is averaging 2.76 assists per set. Senior libero Kiya James continues to pace the defense with 4.84 digs per set.

SCOUTING BRADLEY -

The Bradley Braves (7-4, 1-1) visit Indiana State on Friday after winning four of their last six games. The Braves split action at home in their Missouri Valley Conference season openers last weekend as they were swept by Evansville 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 17-25) on Friday but rallied from a two sets to none deficit to win over Southern Illinois 3-2 Saturday (22-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-12).

Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Alise Tupuritis leads the Bradley offense with 3.31 kills per set while sophomore middle blocker Amy Angelos averages 2.49 kills per set. Freshman setter Madison Kamp is averaging 9.69 assists per set while senior defensive specialist Genevieve Dejean is averaging 3.33 digs per set.

SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA -

The Panthers of Northern Iowa had won their last three games by sweeps after suffering their only loss of the season against then sixth ranked Minnesota (2-3) on Sept. 10. The Panthers swept then-12th ranked Iowa State 26-24, 25-18, 25-18) on Sept. 13 and then rolled through the opening Missouri Valley Conference weekend with home court sweeps of Southern Illinois (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) and Evansville (25-20, 25-13, 25-18). The wins enabled Northern Iowa to move up one spot in the nationally rankings as they enter this weekend's action ranked 14th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.

Five Panthers are averaging over two kills per set including junior middle blocker Krista DeGeest (2.60), junior outside hitter Megan Lehman (2.52), senior middle blocker Michelle Burrow (2.38), sophomore middle blocker Shelby Kintzel (2.31), and senior setter Bre Payton (2.00). Payton also is the key set up artist with 10.23 assists per set while junior defensive specialist Candice Burke is averaging 4.35 digs per set.

SERIES NOTES:

VS. BRADLEY - This is the 57th meeting between Indiana State and Bradley with the Braves leading the overall series 33-22 and a 31-19 edge in conference games. The two teams split last season with the Sycamores posting a 3-0 win at home while the Braves rallied to edge ISU 3-2 in Peoria. Indiana State holds a 16-11 edge in games played in the ISU Arena including the last three home games against the Braves.

VS. NORTHERN IOWA - This is the 51st meeting between Indiana State and Northern Iowa with the Panthers winning the last 27 contests including a 3-1 win over ISU in Terre Haute and a 3-0 victory in Cedar Falls, Iowa a year ago. The Bears lead the series 48-2 with the last Sycamore win coming in 1997 with a 3-2 victory in the ISU Arena. Indiana State is 2-22 against the Panthers in the ISU Arena but have lost the 13 at home to UNI.