SPRINGFIELD, MO. ? In the midst of the toughest stretch in its schedule, the gauntlet of facing the best team in the Missouri Valley Conference continued to be a thorn in Drake's side as it dropped its fifth straight contest following a 3-0 (30-19, 34-32, 30-23) victory by Missouri State on Saturday (Nov. 10).
The Bulldogs are now 7-22 on the campaign, including 4-13 in conference action. For the Bears, the win propels them to 24-5 overall and 13-3 in The Valley.
Drake again came slow out of the gates in game one as Missouri State outhit the Bulldogs, .378 to .057, en route to pulling in a 30-19 decision.
As was the case one night earlier at Wichita State, the Blue and White forced bonus play in the second game before the Bears exited with a 34-32 victory to go up two games to zero.
Missouri State completed the triumph netting a 30-23 win in the final stanza.
Freshman Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) bounced back after a rough outing versus the Shockers to finish the contest with a team-high 13 kills. Freshman Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) recorded a match-best 19 kills, while senior Sarah Schuster (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) and sophomore Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) contributed 18 and 11 assists, respectively.
Sara Thomas wrapped the affair with a match-high 14-kill effort to lead three Missouri State players with double-figure kills.
The Bears attacked the ball at a .263 clip, while limiting the Bulldog attack to a .076 hitting percentage.
Missouri State bettered Drake in kills (58-35), assists (54-33), service aces (3-1) digs (66-41) and blocks (13.0-8.0).
Up next for the Bulldogs is their season finale at Creighton on Friday (Nov. 16). Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
