DES MOINES, IOWA - The evolution of the Drake volleyball team under second-year head coach Phil McDaniel continues to be redefined with every match as the Bulldogs matched their victory total for all of the 2008 campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-19) non-conference triumph over South Dakota State on Wednesday (Oct. 7) at the Knapp Center.

Drake now stands at 12-7 overall, while the Jackrabbits saw their ledger fall to 6-10 on the year.

Intertwined in the feat was a moment of Bulldog history as junior Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) became only the eighth Drake player to surpass the 1,000-kill plateau when she hammered down her seventh of a team-high eights kills just inside the backline for the 18th point of the third game.

"Angela's worked very hard to reach this goal," McDaniel commented. "It is very difficult to achieve 1,000 kills in a college career and she still has another year and a half to add onto her total."

Eve Johnson (2003-06) holds the school record for kills with 1,232.

Drake asserted its way from the start as the Bulldogs broke open a 15-13 affair in the first game by scoring seven of the next eight points to assume a 22-14 advantage en route to earning a 25-17 decision. 

On the strength of a .323 attack mark in the second game and four kills from redshirt sophomore Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East) Drake staked itself to a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 triumph.

Nine different Bulldogs registered kills in the deciding game three as Drake secured the victory with a 25-19 win.

"I thought we attacked the ball pretty well tonight and I thought our setters did very good job with ball distribution keeping our hitters very involved in the offense," McDaniel stated.  "I think in the middle especially, we attacked the ball really well between Emily (Heffernen) and Michelle (Reidy) and I think our team defense overall was very solid."

While it isn't something the team talks about for the Bulldogs to achieve their 12th victory so early in the campaign is something that has McDaniel excited about the future of his program.

"Its something that we really don't talk about but definitely good to match last year's wins total this early in season," McDaniel said.  "Now we need to see how many more we can add to it."

Led by eight kills apiece from Bys and junior Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) the Bulldogs finished the affair striking the ball at a .294, while limiting the Jackrabbits to a .132 attack mark.

Senior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) shared top-match honors with 22 assists, while sophomore Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore Community) came off the bench to distribute 10 assists. 

Posting double-figure digs for Drake with 10 was junior Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley).

Ellyce Youngren led all players with 10 kills for South Dakota State, while Nicole Peters recorded 22 assists.

Drake won the statistical battle in the tilt in kills (43-32), assists (38-31), service aces (4-3), digs (41-32) and blocks (5.0-1.0).

The Bulldogs resume conference action on Saturday (Oct. 10) as Drake entertains Creighton at 7:00 p.m.