VERMILLION, S.D. - On the strength of a double-double
from senior Emily Madden (Van Meter,
Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) the Drake volleyball team avenged an early season
loss to South Dakota as the Bulldogs downed the Coyotes on Monday evening (Nov. 9), 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14).
The victory snapped a three-match losing streak for Drake
and improved the Bulldogs' ledger to 19-10 overall, while dropping South Dakota to 12-15 on
the campaign.
"Our energy and focus wasn't where it needed to be in game
one, but we were able to make adjustments and earn the victory," Bulldog head
coach Phil McDaniel commented. "South
Dakota did a good job taking some of our weapons away
but we got solid contributions from Emily (Madden), Michelle (Reidy) and Angela
(Bys), who did a good job of stepping up."
"We played solid defensively and that let to our transition
offense."
The Coyotes jumped out to an 8-3 advantage in game one and were
able to withstand a late Drake charge to assume a 1-0 lead earning a 25-22
decision.
The Bulldogs rebounded in the second game racing out to an
8-2 lead en route to a 25-18 victory.
In a wild third frame that featured 10 ties and five lead
changes, Drake erased a 12-8 deficit and went on to record a 25-21 triumph
before rolling in the deciding game, 25-14.
A 22-dig, 17-kill performance by Madden marked her third
double-double of the season and left her four digs shy of becoming only the
fifth player in school history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau.
Senior Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) added her team-leading
12th double-double of the year with 40 assists and 11 digs.
The Bulldogs garnered double-figure kills by Madden, junior Angela Bys (Marion,
Iowa/Marion) and sophomore Michelle Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert
Catholic) with 17, 13 and 10, respectively.
Junior Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie
Valley) led all players with 19 digs.
Kristen Kritenbrink led the Coyotes with a 17-dig, 13-kill
evening.
Drake attacked the ball at a .325 clip buoyed by .526, .522
and .444 hitting marks from Reidy, Bys and Madden, respectively.
The Bulldogs bettered South
Dakota in kills (62-53), assists (56-51), digs
(79-66) and blocks (7.0-4.0), while being bested in service aces (4-1).
Drake returns to action on Friday (Nov. 13) as Drake
entertains Evansville
in a 7:00 p.m. tilt.
