GREEN BAY, WIS. - The
Bulldogs closed their stay at the Green Bay Country Inn and Suites Classic with
a bang on Saturday (Sept. 7) registering a 3-2 (17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25,
15-9) victory over Fresno
State.
The triumph propelled Drake to 7-1 on the year while
returning Fresno State
to California
at 2-4. The victory allowed the Bulldogs
to equal their win total for all of the 2007 season (7).
If Green Bay defeats Northern Arizona in the tournament finale, Drake will
capture its second consecutive tournament title. A loss, will give the Blue and White a
second-place finish.
“We struggled tonight until we put ourselves in a position
to block,” Bulldog head coach Phil
McDaniel commented. “Offensively it
wasn't our night, but we were able to survive and get blocks and kills when we
needed them.”
Drake ultimately won the affair with its defensive tenacity
as the Bulldogs finished the affair with a season-high 15.0 blocks, including a
season-best 20 blocks assists. Drake
turned in seven team blocks alone in the deciding fifth frame.
Freshman Michelle
Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic) was the catalyst to that surge posting
nine blocks, including eight block assists, with the final one cementing the
victory for Drake. She had entered the
final set with only two block assists and zero solo blocks.
Reidy contributed on the offensive end as well recording
seven kills against only one error en route to notching a .333 hitting
percentage.
Junior Emily Madden
(Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) complimented Reidy registering her second
double-double of the season with a 10-kill, 11-dig performance.
Sophomore Angela Bys
(Marion, Iowa/Marion) directed three Bulldogs with double-digit kills recording
15 to join Madden and sophomore Alisa
DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson), who netted 10 kills apiece.
Sophomore Alana
Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) and junior Lindsay Schryver (Williams Bay,
Wis./Williams Bay) contributed 11 and 10 digs, respectively to Drake's
defensive surge.
Drake won the match despite losing the statistical column in
kills (65-47), assists (60-43) and digs (64-45). Led by three Bulldogs with two service aces
apiece, Drake collected a 9-7 margin in service aces.
Bys and Lauersdorf were both named to the all-tournament team.
The Bulldogs return to action on Friday (Sept. 12) as Drake
faces Xavier, a 2007 NCAA Tournament participant, at the Iowa Challenge in Ames. Match time against the Musketeers is slated
for 4:30 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.
