OMAHA, NEB. - The magnitude of all the Drake volleyball team has accomplished during its magical 2009 campaign are feats that only the passing of time will allow the Bulldogs to fully cherish after dropping a 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-22) decision at Creighton in their first State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship appearance since 1998.

Drake concluded its most successful campaign since 1996 at 22-12 overall, while Creighton moved on to the semifinals against top-seeded Northern Iowa at 14-16 on the year.

"You can't say enough about what we've done this season and what the team has done as the girls have worked so very hard since I've been here and they've had one goal and that was to get themselves in the conference tournament," Bulldog head coach Phil McDaniel commented.  "Now we've achieved that goal, so the next goal is to pass the torch on to the younger group that we need to advance past the first round.  We've got all the tools in the world to do it, I think just getting to the tournament for the first time in so long that it was a mental challenge that we just couldn't quite overcome."

The Bulldogs jumped to a 3-1 advantage in the first set before the Bluejays mounted a 7-1 run to force Drake to take a timeout with Creighton leading 8-4. The Bulldogs stemmed the tide scoring two of the next three points before the Bluejays capitalized on Drake nine attack errors to pull away en route to posting a 25-14 decision in the initial stanza.

Creighton registered a .222 attack mark in the first set, while limiting the Bulldogs to a -.139 hitting percentage. Drake garnered just six kills in the frame led by two apiece from redshirt sophomore Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East) and redshirt freshman Emily Heffernen (Manchester, Iowa/West Delaware).

A defensive presence prevailed over the Drake attack to begin the second stanza as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-3 lead.  Creighton though chipped away at the advantage and five times got it cut to one point before squaring the match at 13 on a block by Allie Oelke and Jessica Houts. 

The Bluejays assumed their first lead in the frame on a Drake attack error, 16-15, and then scored three unanswered tallies before a Bys kill stopped the streak.  The Bulldogs battled back to cut the margin to one, 22-21, on a Houts' attack error, before squaring the affair at 23 on a kill by Sims.

The two sides exchanged the next three points before a block by Alicia Runge and Laurel Sanford sent Creighton into the intermission with a 26-24 victory and a 2-0 set lead.

Drake improved its offensive numbers in the second set attack the ball at a .244 clip, but the Bluejays bettered the Bulldogs with a .333 hitting percentage.  Bys and junior Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) paced Drake with five and four kills, respectively, in the second stanza.

In the final frame, Creighton jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Drake garnered its first point on a Bluejay service error.  Just as Creighton looked to take control the Bulldogs continued to claw their way back into the frame as Drake cut the margin to 12-11.

The Bluejays slowly pulled away down the stretch assuming a 19-14 lead and fended off a late Drake charge en route to a 25-22 victory.

Bys and Heffernen paced the Drake attack with nine kills apiece, while junior Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) registered a team-best 18 digs.  Senior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) and sophomore Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore Community) distributed 14 and 16 assists, respectively.

Posting double-figure kills for Creighton was Houts and Oelke with 12 and 10, while Oelke finished with a double-double adding 12 digs.

The Bluejays bested the Bulldogs in kills (43-37), assists (41-34), digs (59-53) and blocks (10.0-7.0).  Creighton became only the third team this season to post double-figure blocks against Drake.

The match marked the final competition in the distinguished careers for the Bulldogs' three seniors in Lauersdorf, Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) and Lindsay Schryver (Williams Bay, Wis./Williams Bay).

"I'm very proud of the seniors, very proud off all the players the way they played all season and we certainly hope to be back her next season," said McDaniel.