DES MOINES, IOWA - On the strength of a .526 attack mark in the final and deciding set, Southern Illinois handed Drake a 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 25-27, 15-7) setback in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball action on Friday evening (Oct. 17).

The loss was the first in a five-set match for the Bulldogs this season in five attempts and dropped the squad to 9-11 overall and 2-6 in the MVC.  The Salukis snapped their three-match slide to improve their ledger to 12-6 on the year, including 3-5 in league play.

“It was good to see the intensity in our team back this evening,” Drake head coach Phil McDaniel said.  “We were able to bounce back after not having that intensity the past couple of matches.  Offensively, we spread the ball around well, but the key to the match was that we made too many hitting errors.”

Both sides struggled attacking the ball in the opening frame, but it was a call that went against the Bulldogs with the set tied at 21 that swung the momentum in favor of Southern Illinois in a 25-22, set-one triumph.

Drake fell behind early in the second set before rallying from a two-point deficit to claim a 25-22 decision.  

In the third stanza, the Salukis capitalized on 10 Bulldog errors to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-16 triumph.

Southern Illinois seemed poised to end the match in four sets as the Salukis held a 17-14 advantage before Drake rolled of five unanswered points to assume a 19-17 lead.  Sparking the surge was a pair of kills from sophomore Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) and a service ace by freshman Michelle Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic).

Four ties followed before a kill by DeBerg Roth on Drake's second attempt at set point sent the contest into a deciding fifth set, where the Salukis posted a 15-7 triumph.

Rebounding after a rough outing last Tuesday (Oct. 14) against South Dakota was sophomore Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion), who registered a season-best 23 kills.  She fell one dig shy of recording her team-best seventh double-double of the campaign adding nine.

Junior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) was strong for Drake distributing 37 assists, while collecting nine digs.

Redshirt freshman Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East) returned to the Bulldog line-up with a bang collecting 11 kills against only three errors en route to a match-best .348 attack mark.  Junior Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) netted her second double-double of the season with an 11-kill, 15-dig performance.

Reidy turned in a match-high six blocks, all assists, while sophomore Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) led all players with 26 digs.

A 19-kill, 15-dig effort from Jennifer Berwanger paced Southern Illinois.

The Salukis garnered advantages in the affair in kills (68-57), assists (65-53) and digs (84-76), while services aces and blocks were all square at four and eight, respectively.

Drake closes out its three-match homestand on Saturday (Oct. 18) as the Bulldogs entertain Evansville in their Digs for the Cure contest.  Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.