Friday, Sept. 23

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Drake University Volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 23-25) matchup at Southern Illinois, Friday. The loss put the Bulldogs at 4-11 overall and 0-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Juniors Whitney Westrum (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) and Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) led Drake with 15 and 11 kills, respectively. For Mancini, the match represented her second contest with double-figure kills following her career-high 18-kill effort Sept. 12 at Kansas State. Westrum totaled her eighth match with double-digit kills.

The Bulldogs opened the match with a 27-25 first-set victory. Mancini powered Drake to the victory, ending the set with two-straight kills to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.

Southern Illinois rebounded to take game two, 25-20, and enter the locker rooms with the match tied at one game apiece. The Salukis controlled both game three and hi.536 on the set to win 25-22. In the final game, Southern Illinois downed Drake 25-23 to take the match.

Drake hit just .143 for the match and committed 32 attack errors. The Salukis hit .272 and logged just 22 attack errors.

Senior setter Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) totaled 43 assists and led Drake with 13 digs. The effort served as her team-best sixth double-double of the season.

The Bulldogs continue their MVC slate tomorrow with a 7 p.m. match at Evansville.