NORMAL, ILL. ? A poor hitting night (.043) proved to be Drake's undoing as Illinois State recorded a 3-0 (30-20, 30-14, 30-22) Missouri Valley Conference volleyball victory over the Bulldogs on Friday evening (Oct. 26).
The loss was the 24th straight versus the Redbirds by the Bulldogs and drops Drake's ledger to 6-17 overall and 3-9 in the MVC. Illinois State pushed its record to 15-8 on the campaign and 7-5 in conference play with the triumph.
The Redbird exerted control of the match from the start as Illinois State outhit the Blue and White .245 to .068 in the initial frame en route to a 30-20 game one victory.
The numbers jumped in the final two frames as the Redbirds posted hitting percentages of .455 and .400, respectively to roll to 30-14 and 30-22 decisions.
Freshman Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) netted her third straight double-digit kill performance registering a team-high 10 kills. She fell two digs shy of collecting her third consecutive double-double collecting eight digs. Freshman Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) led the Bulldogs with a team-best 14 digs.
Senior Sarah Schuster (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) distributed 15 assists for Drake.
Illinois State garnered 17- and 15-kill performances from Kari Staehlin and Peggy Riessen. Four Redbirds cracked double-figures in digs led by Kasey Mollerus.
Illinois State dominated the statistical count as it bettered Drake in kills (56-25), assists (54-23), digs (58-39), service aces (6-3) and blocks (9.0-5.0). The Redbirds finished the affair attacking the ball at a .353 clip, while limiting the Bulldogs to a .043 hitting percentage.
Drake concludes its weekend road swing with a 6:00 p.m. match at Indiana State on Saturday (Oct. 27).
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