CARBONDALE, ILL. - Senior
Eve Johnson (Council Bluffs, Iowa) took the Bulldogs on her shoulders and in her final collegiate match lifted Drake to a dramatic 3-1 (24-30, 30-23, 30-23, 30-28) Missouri Valley Conference volleyball victory over Southern Illinois Saturday (Nov. 18) on the strength of a career-high 32 kills.
Entering the weekend with only one road win to its credit all season, Drake displayed determination and true resolve as it provided its senior class of Johnson,
Megan Veltman (Racine, Wis.),
Liz McNulty (Roosevelt),
Beth Kranske (Fort Collins, Colo.) and
Betsy Funk (Urbandale, Iowa) with a rousing sendoff as the Bulldogs snapped a 14-match road conference losing slide with a pair of MVC triumphs at Evansville and Southern Illinois. The victory brought to a close the 2006 campaign for the Blue and White with an 8-22 overall record, including 4-14 in the conference. Each mark doubled the overall and league victory outputs, respectively, for the Bulldogs from one season ago. The Salukis regular season wrapped up with a ledger of 11-17, including 6-12 in the MVC.
Tonights victory was a great team effort, but Eve (Johnson) was definitely the star of the match, Drake head coach Amy Farber Knowles commented. The win was a great note to finish the season on and I couldnt be prouder of the team. It was a terrific way to send off our five seniors.
After falling in the first game, 30-24, the Bulldogs stormed back to register .245, .156 and .167 attack marks in the next three frames, respectively, to notch their first victory in Carbondale since the 2003 season.
Johnson finished with her distinguished Drake career with a bang as she struck the ball at a .288 clip en route to posting her team-leading ninth double-double of the year with a 32-kill, 15-dig performance. Not to be outdone, junior
Sarah Schuster (Indianola, Iowa) was equally impressive as she recorded her second consecutive double-double in leading all players with 54 assists, while contributing 17 digs. In a strategic move by Farber Knowles, junior
Samantha Nelson (Ceresco, Neb.) played primarily on the back row in a defensive set and responded by shattering her previous career high for digs with 25. The Blue and White also garnered double-figure dig efforts from Kranske and McNulty with 21 and 15, respectively. Johannah Yutzy paced the Salukis with 16 kills, while Kristy Elswick contributed a match-high 26 digs.
Johnson finished her Drake career as the school's all-time leader in kills (1,226) and attack attempts (3,860).
Despite being out-hit in the contest, .185 to .167, the Bulldogs took care of nearly every statistical battle as the Blue and White better Southern Illinois in kills (70-53), assists (65-50), digs (102-98) and service aces (11-9).
Saturday's match marked the final contest for Drake during the 2006 campaign.
