DES MOINES, IOWA - The Drake volleyball team reached another milestone in its renaissance as the Bulldogs rallied for a come-from-behind 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 17-25, 25-19, 15-8) victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday (Nov. 14) to capture the program's first berth in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship since 1998.

The win elevated Drake's ledger to 21-10 overall and 9-7 in the MVC, while dropping the Salukis to 18-10 and 7-10 in league action.

On a night when the Bulldogs honored their three seniors in Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown), Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) and Lindsay Schryver (Williams Bay, Wis./Williams Bay), it was a collective team effort that enabled Drake to reach its ultimate team goal this season, that being to earn a spot in the MVC Championship.

"This is a fantastic achievement for this team, these seniors have been working hard for this for four years and it is something that Drake hasn't accomplished in awhile and it is milestone that we will certainly relish," Bulldog head coach Phil McDaniel commented.  "Now we have a week left and we're going to go out and prepare ourselves to play as hard as we played this weekend."

The first set was an offensive struggle for both sides, but it was the Bulldogs' defense that led to a 26-24 triumph.

Drake seemed poised to capture the second frame holding an 18-13 advantage but the Salukis fought back scoring 11 of the next 13 points before registering a 25-22 triumph on a Chandra Roberson kill.

Southern Illinois took the third stanza by a score of 25-17, before the Bulldogs squared the contest at two with a 25-19 decision in the fourth set.

In the deciding frame, Drake recorded seven kills against only three errors to win the set and the match with a 15-8 victory.

"I think we came out with a little too much emotion and energy with it being senior night, but I have to give credit to our seniors as they played a phenomenal match," McDaniel explained.  "They helped get the team through the struggles when we were at our lows and what can you say about Chelsea (Lauersdorf) with 26 digs and 26 assists, that is a big night for a setter.  She's the quarterback of the team and she had a great night." 

Lauersdorf ended her home career with a bang with a 26-dig, 26-assist performance for her team-leading 11th double-double of the season.  With her first assist in the fifth set, she became only the third player in school history to reach the 3,000-assist plateau, while her 26 digs represented a career high.

Turning in her second double-double of the season was sophomore Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore Community) with 12 assists and 11 digs. 

Drake garnered double-figure kills by junior Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson), junior Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) and redshirt freshman Emily Heffernen (Manchester, Iowa/West Delaware) with 12, 11 and 11 kills, respectively. Heffernen also added a team-high seven blocks.

"We got great production out of our middles and I thought our defense was outstanding both at the net and in the back row as well," said McDaniel.  "You could tell with the number of digs and blocks that the team was focused on defense and it really frustrated the Southern Illinois attackers at times."

Junior Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) chipped in 23 digs, while Madden just missed a double-double with nine kills and seven digs. 

Southern Illinois was sparked by a 45-assist, 11-dig effort from Rachael Brown.

The Salukis bested the Bulldogs in kills (59-57), assists (49-46) and digs (97-92), while Drake earned the edge in service aces (7-5) and blocks (11.0-5.0).

The Bulldogs return to action on Friday (Nov. 20) with a 7:00 p.m. tilt at Bradley.  With its victory Drake will face a soon to be determined opponent in the opening round of the State Farm MVC Championship on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 26) in Omaha, Neb.