DES MOINES, IOWA - Sparked by a 16-kill, 14-dig outburst from sophomore Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion), the Drake volleyball team moved to 5-0 on the campaign after registering a 3-1 (25-11, 15-25, 25-14, 25-15) victory over Western Illinois in the Bulldogs' home opener on Tuesday evening (Sept. 2) in the Knapp Center.
Drake is off to its best start to a season with the triumph since beginning the 1996 campaign with an identical 5-0 ledger. The loss dropped the Westerwinds to 1-3 overall.
“It was a big defensive night for us tonight as we did what we needed to do defensively and at the net,” Bulldog head coach Phil McDaniel commented. “The combination of blocking as well as digging out balls made the match very manageable for us to get the win. You have to give credit to Western Illinois for digging out balls which our opponents over the weekend were unable to do and they really took advantage of our lack of energy and focus in the second set.”
Bys collected her second double-double of the season for Drake, while junior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) came up just shy of matching her registering a match-high 44 assists to go along with nine digs.
The Bulldogs were dominating defensively as the squad recorded a season-high 75 digs, while posting double-figure blocks (12.0) for the fourth time in five matches. Sophomore Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) led four Drake players with double-digit digs as she netted a career-high 25. Joining her in double-figures was junior Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn), Bys and junior Lindsay Schryver (Williams Bay, Wis./Williams Bay) with 15, 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
Mounting the attack offensively was Bys with 16 kills and redshirt freshman Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East) with 10. Additionally, freshman Michelle Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic) and sophomore Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) added eight and seven kills to the Drake effort.
The Bulldogs on the strength of a .350 attack mark in the third set went on to post a .223 hitting percentage and limited Western Illinois to a .048 mark.
Sarah Trimpe collected team-highs in assists (28) and digs (13) to record the double-double to spark the Westerwinds.
Collectively, Drake won the statistical count in kills (49-33), assists (46-33), digs (75-64), solo blocks (6-0) and total blocks (12.0-2.0), while the two sides registered six service aces apiece.
The Bulldogs will look to equal their best start (6-0) to a campaign since 1995 when Drake travels to Green Bay, Wis., to compete in the Green Bay Comfort Inn and Suites Classic this weekend. The Bulldogs open against the host Phoenix on Friday (Sept. 5) before battling Northern Arizona and Fresno State on Saturday (Sept. 6) at 1:00 and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
