NORMAL, ILL. - Drake was done in by its own mistakes on Saturday evening (Oct. 11) as Illinois State capitalized off the Bulldogs' miscues en route a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15) Missouri Valley Conference volleyball victory.

The loss evened Drake's record at 9-9 overall and 2-5 in league play, while propelling the Redbirds to 10-9, including 4-4 in the MVC.

 “Illinois played incredible defense tonight,” Drake head coach Phil McDaniel stated.  “Our offense got frustrated at times and made too many errors on our side of the net and it cost us.”

Sophomore Angela Bys (Marion, Wis./Marion) paced the Bulldogs with eight kills, while sophomore Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) had her streak of double-digit digs come to an end at 19, registering a team-best eight digs.  Junior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) distributed 12 assists for Drake.

Mallory Leggett and M.C. Richmond paced Illinois State with 13 and 10 kills, respectively.

Illinois State was dominating in the final stat count as the Redbirds bettered the Bulldogs in kills (50-23), assists (48-23), digs (53-33) and services aces (3-2).  On the strength of four blocks apiece from junior Ashley Jarek (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) and sophomore Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson), Drake registered nine blocks to seven by Illinois State.

The Bulldogs step out of conference action on Tuesday (Oct. 14) as Drake hosts South Dakota in a 7:00 p.m. tilt.