NORMAL, Ill. -
The Drake University volleyball team was swept in a Missouri Valley Conference
matchup at Illinois State, Friday. The loss moved the Bulldogs to 9-17 overall,
and 5-7 in the MVC. Game scores were 14-25, 20-25, 23-25.
The win gave Illinois State a 7-5 MVC record and widened the
gap between the fifth-place Redbirds and the sixth-place Bulldogs to two
matches. A 3-0 Southern Illinois loss at Evansville Friday night kept Drake two
matches up on the Salukis and in control of the sixth and final invitation to November's
State Farm MVC Championship in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Junior Whitney Westrum (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) led all players
with 12 kills in 38 swings for a team-best .184 hitting percentage. The match
served as her third-straight 12-kill effort and gave the junior a team-high 281
kills on the season. Westrum tallied four kills in all three sets.
Junior outside hitter Bentley Mancini (Burnsville,
Minn./Apple Valley) totaled six kills, snapping a four-match streak of double-figure
kill totals. Stacie Hansen (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southwest) added five kills.
Senior captain Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) totaled
a game-high 30 assists, while junior Sarah Madden (Van Meter,
Iowa/Adel-DeSoto-Minburn) added a game-high 16 digs.
The Bulldogs tallied just two service aces after tallying
eight in both of their last two matches. Drake committed seven service errors
on the night, a reflection of the team's risk/reward approach to service.
Drake heads to Indiana State for a 7 p.m . matchup against
the Sycamores on Saturday.
