AMES, IOWA ? The final in-state showdown for the Drake volleyball team at the Iowa State Tournament on Saturday (Sept. 13) went in favor of Iowa as the Hawkeyes parlayed a .347 hitting percentage into a 3-0 triumph (25-18, 25-11, 25-16) over the Bulldogs.
The loss dropped Drake to 7-4 on the campaign, while pushing Iowa over .500 for the season at 5-4.
“It was a disappointing day for us but as I told the team it doesn't make or break our season,” Bulldog head coach
Phil McDaniel commented. “We didn't follow our game plan and made a lot of mistakes. Our serve-receive was good but we just weren't getting kills.”
Drake was plagued by a slow start in the first set as the Hawkeyes jumped out to an 8-4 lead. The Bulldogs responded with a run of their own with kills by junior
Ashley Jarek (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) and sophomore
Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) cutting the deficit to 9-8.
From that point, neither side enjoyed more than a three-point margin in the stanza until back-to-back kills extended the margin to 19-14 in favor of Iowa.
The Hawkeyes hit at a dominating. 524 clip in the second stanza en route to claiming the victory, 25-11.
Drake couldn't keep up with Iowa in the final frame as the Hawkeyes registered a .316 hitting percentage and pulled away for a 25-16 decision to secure the match, 3-0.
Junior
Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) and sophomore
Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) led the Bulldogs with six kills apiece. Junior
Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) added 21 assists, while sophomore
Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) contributed 11 digs.
Directing Iowa with a 13-kill, 11-dig performance was Megan Schipper, while Catherine Smale posted a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
The Hawkeyes garnered advantages in the affair in kills (43-27), assists (41-25), digs (50-37) and blocks (8.0-3.0).
Wittenburg was named to the all-tournament team for Drake.
The Bulldogs open Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday (Sept. 19) as Drake travels to Northern Iowa for a 7:00 p.m. match.
