CEDAR FALLS, IOWA -
The Drake University volleyball team's record-breaking 2010 season ended
Thursday (Nov. 25) with a 3-1 (11-25, 25-21, 18-25, 18-25) loss to Creighton in
the opening match of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball
Tournament. The Bulldogs finish the campaign with a 23-11 overall mark and an
8-10 MVC record.
Drake managed to hit just .075 for the match with
35 kills on 147 chances. The Bulldogs
committed 24 errors on the night.
"It was sort of like a Dr. Jekyl Mr. Hyde at times," said
head coach Phil McDaniel. "We came out a
little scattered at times. Once we
settled down and got past that initial adrenaline rush, we were able to play
some good quality volleyball."
Senior libero Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa) closed out her collegiate career tallying 19
digs, adding to her already record-breaking single season and career totals.
"With Alana finishing the season the way she did, she was
fantastic," McDaniel said. "We're really going to miss all six of our
seniors."
Junior setter Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill.) managed the lone Bulldog double-double with 19
assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Whitney Westrum (Waukee, Iowa) came up a
kill short, tallying 9 kills and 15 digs on the night.
Drake fell in the opening set, 25-11. The Bulldogs managed just 6 kills on 31
chances in the opening frame, while committing 10 errors.
Drake rallied back to win the second set, 25-21. The
Bulldogs took an early lead before allowing Creighton to tie the score at
12-12. Following the tie, Drake used
strong defense to go on a 9-4 run to open up a 21-16 lead. Creighton rallied
back to make the score 23-21, but coach Phil McDaniel took a well-placed
timeout and Drake closed out the set by winning the final 2 points.
"We came out in the second set and were much more
focused," said McDaniel. "We paid
attention to our defensive assignments better, and were much more aggressive."
In the third set, Drake trailed by as many as 6 points
before closing it to 21-18. Creighton then went on a 4-0 run to end the set,
downing the Bulldogs, 25-18.
Drake got off to a slow start in the deciding set,
trailing 11-0 before taking a timeout. The Bulldogs rallied back, but were
never able to overcome the deficit, falling 25-18 in the fourth.
"We certainly had a good run," reflected McDaniel. "The beginning of the year was fantastic, but
conference is tough, it sort of beat us up a little bit. I'm very proud of all of our players -
freshman to seniors. They all worked
very hard to get us to where we're at...as long as we're taking steps forwards
and not backwards, that's all I can ask for right now."
NOTES...
...Senior libero Alana Wittenburg ended the season with 764 digs... Nationally speaking, Wittenburg's
season total is the second-highest since the NCAA went to 25-point scoring and
unlimited libero substitutions in 2008... Her effort trails only Lara Newberry
of Chattanooga's 777-dig season in 2008... Wittenburg leaves Drake as its single-game
(39 - at Evansville, 9-17-10; vs. Illinois State, 10-29-10) and single season
(764 - 2010) and career (2,423) record holder... Her single-season Drake digs
record doubles as the Missouri Valley Conference record... As of today (Nov.
25), Wittenburg is one of just 15 NCAA Division-I athletes to amass 2,400 or
more digs in a career...
...Senior outside hitter Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa) totaled a season-low five kills in 35
attacks, finishing her career with 1,626 kills in 4,688 attempts - both Drake
records... Bys' totals rank 12th and fifth, respectively, in Missouri Valley
Conference history...
...Senior outside hitter Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa) finishes her career with 276 block assists - good for 10th in Drake history...
...six seniors, Wittenburg, Bys, DeBerg Roth, Emily Sibigtroth (Durand, Ill.), Nicole Brown (Appleton, Wis.) and Susan Clausen (Johnston, Iowa) played in their final collegiate contests...
