DES MOINES, IOWA - Drake garnered a career performance from redshirt freshman Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East) but her efforts went for naught as Illinois State captured a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18) Missouri Valley Conference volleyball triumph over the Bulldogs on Friday evening (Nov. 7).

Sims finished with career-bests in kills (15), digs (6), solo blocks (1) and block assists (4), but it wasn't enough as Drake fell to 9-18 overall, including 2-11 in the MVC. The Redbirds evened their ledger at 13-13 en route to pushing their league mark to 6-8 with the win.

“We started each set falling behind early and we needed to expend so much energy to catch up that is made it hard for us to stay in each set,” Bulldog head coach Phil McDaniel commented. “I thought in sets three and four our defensive intensity and focus to responsibility really picked up but it wasn't enough.”

Poor-hitting performances in the initial two stanzas placed Drake in a hole it wasn't able to overcome as Illinois State netted 25-19 and 25-20 victories in the first and second set, respectively, to take a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs attacked the ball at a .115 clip in those frames as compared to a .198 hitting percentage by the Redbirds.

A late surge fueled by a .351 attack mark in the third set propelled Drake to a come-from-behind 26-24 decision.

The momentum faded for the Bulldogs in the final stanza as Illinois State registered 17 kills en route to pounding out a 25-18 win to secure the match.

Sims paced all players with 15 kills and was joined in double-figures by sophomore Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) with 12 kills. Junior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) chipped in 24 assists, while freshman Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore Community) notched a career-best 20 assists.

With her fourth of a match-high 21 digs, sophomore Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) moved past Sandy Matheus (918/1991-94) into fourth place in school history with 936 career digs. Junior Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) joined her in double-figures with 13 digs.

Illinois State garnered double-doubles in the contest from Erin Lindsay (45 assists ? 20 digs), MC Richmond (14 kills ? 11 digs), Peggy Riessen (15-kills, 13-digs) and Mallory Leggett (14 kills ? 13 digs).

The Redbirds won the final statistical count in kills (59-53), assists (54-47), blocks (9.0-6.0) and service aces (7-2), while the Bulldogs bettered Illinois State in digs (76-74).

Drake closes out its three-match homestand on Saturday (Nov. 8) as the Bulldogs host Indiana State in a 7:00 p.m. tilt.