KANSAS CITY, MO. - Failing to execute in the clutch over the final three sets, the Drake volleyball team let a 2-0 lead slip away en route to suffering a 3-2 (25-13, 25-13, 20-25, 19-25, 8-15) setback at UMKC on Wednesday evening (Oct. 29).
The loss spoiled a brilliant individual performance from junior
Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown), who registered her third career triple-double with a 30-assist, 14-dig and 12-kill effort.
The Bulldogs failed in their attempt to snap their seven-match losing streak and dropped to 9-16 overall, while UMKC collected its 10th victory to improve its ledger to 10-17.
“We had some great individual performances spoiled by our lack of intensity tonight,” Drake head coach
Phil McDaniel commented. “We were in a spot where we needed a win for our own confidence and we basically shut down as a team after the second set. Our attack errors in set three through five were a direct result of us not being focused, credit UMKC for playing through the match.”
The Bulldogs jumped out of the gates scoring the first six points in the affair before a serving error provided the Kangaroos with their initial point. The lead swelled to as many as 15 points on the strength of four first-set kills from sophomore
Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson). UMKC made a late surge scoring four unanswered tallies before a service error sealed a 25-13 victory for Drake.
The Bulldogs committed only two errors in the first set en route to registering a .433 attack mark, while limiting the Kangaroos to a .032 hitting percentage.
Drake capitalized off three UMKC attack errors to assume a 4-0 advantage to begin the second stanza. The margin grew to 7-1 before the Kangaroos scored four of the next five points to cut the deficit to 8-5.
The Bulldogs began to slowly pull away in the frame as sophomore
Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) contributed six kills in a 25-13 triumph. Drake broke open the frame with an 8-0 run capped by a service ace from freshman
Michelle Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic).
As good as the Bulldogs looked in the first two sets, the third frame took on the look of a Halloween horror show as UMKC jumped out to an 11-3 lead courtesy of five Drake errors. The Bulldogs chopped the margin to one, 17-16, on a kill by junior
Ashley Jarek (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North), before the Kangaroos scored five unanswered to assume a 22-16 lead, one they didn't relinquish in a 25-20 victory.
With her first dig in the third set and 12th overall for the match, sophomore
Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) moved past Staci Schmidt (1993-96) and into fifth place all-time at Drake with 890 career digs.
The fourth set began in favor of the Bulldogs as Drake scored seven of the first nine points. The advantage was short-lived as the Kangaroos regrouped to take an 11-10 lead.
A pair of kills by Lauersdorf swung the lead back to the Bulldogs, 13-11. UMKC again fought back to retake the advantage and held on for a 25-19 victory.
The Kangaroos stole the momentum in the final stanza bolting out to a 10-2 lead and finished the set with the 15-8 win.
Sophomore
Nicole Brown (Appleton, Wis./Xavier) paced the Drake attack with a match- and career-high seven blocks.
Bys led Drake with a match-best 18 kills, while Wittenburg contributed 23 digs. Lauersdorf recorded a career-best .529 hitting percentage.
Holly Schmidt directed the Kangaroos with 11 kills.
The Bulldogs won the statistical battle in kills (54-51) and blocks (10.0-8.0), while the Kangaroos bettered Drake in assists (48-46) and digs (70-61).
Drake returns to action on Friday (Oct. 31) as the Bulldogs entertain Creighton in a 7:00 p.m. tilt.
