After securing its first Missouri Valley Conference tournament berth since 2010, the Drake University volleyball team returns to the court for their final road trip of the season this weekend with matches against Southern Illinois and Missouri State.
 
The Bulldogs will take their five-game win streak to Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon before traveling to face conference leader, Missouri State Sunday afternoon. Both matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday's contest against MVC leading Missouri State will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3.
 
Drake (23-9, 12-3 MVC) defeated both Indiana State and Evansville last weekend at home. In the 3-1 victory over the Sycamores, Drake hit their second highest percentage of the conference season at .287 while holding the Sycamores to only .188 hitting. Freshman Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa) tied for the team lead in kills over the weekend with 27 and hitting a staggering .362 in the pair of conference matches. Plock's performance earned her the second MVC Volleyball Freshman of the Week honor of her career. Senior Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) also put up 27 kills while recording 45 digs in the two matches. Sophomore Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) helped the pair of hitters with a career-high 50 assists against Indiana State.
 
With 23 wins, the Bulldogs are looking to improve on what is already one of the most successful seasons in program history. The program's last 23-win season came in 2010 while the Bulldogs have not recorded 12 or more conference wins since 1996. The team's 23 wins to date tie for the third-most in program history.
 
Despite losing nine of their last ten matches, Southern Illinois (5-20, 4-10 MVC) enters the weekend fighting for a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, currently sitting tied for seventh place. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs defeated the Salukis, 3-1, in Des Moines.
 
Missouri State (22-5, 14-0 MVC) is one of just six teams across the country with an undefeated conference record. Earlier this season, Drake forced Missouri State to five sets before being handed its first conference loss of the season in a defensive showcase that saw both programs set school records for kills in a match. The Bulldogs held a prolific Missouri State offense to its lowest hitting percentage against a conference opponent this season, .195. Drake's stifling defense will be put to the test against a strong Missouri State offense including Lily Johnson, who ranks in the top-5 nationally in total points, total kills, and total attacks.
 
Following the weekend road trip, Drake will close out the regular-season at home Nov. 18 against in-state foe UNI. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3.