WICHITA, Kan. - The Drake volleyball team lost its final match of the season to Wichita State, 3-0, Saturday night at Charles Koch Arena.

Game scores were 25-16, 25-20 and 25-21. Drake finishes the season at 5-24 overall and 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The win improves Wichita State's record to 20-8 overall and 13-5 in the MVC. The Shockers victory locked up the number three-seed for next week's MVC Championships in Springfield, Mo.

Drake's freshman middles led its offensive attack Saturday night as Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.) and Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.) each had eight kills. Effken finished her inaugural season with 229 kills and 107 total blocks (27 solos, 80 assists). Dulek had two block assists on the night and finished her first season with 143 kills and 73 total blocks.

"Everyone stepped up tonight with a great overall team effort," Drake head coach Tony Sunga said. "We fell short and lost a couple of points on some errors in a very hostile environment. Our middles (Cassie and Katie) stepped up and opened up things on the outside for our hitters."

The Shockers hit .379 in the match, including .355 in set one and .500 set two. Junior Elizabeth Field tallied 15 kills to lead the Shockers. Ashlyn Driskill added nine kills for WSU. The Shockers finished with 44 assists and the Bulldogs with 32. WSU tallied 42 digs to 30 digs for Drake.

Senior outside hitter Jadranka Tramosljanin (Ruma, Serbia) had five kills and six digs in her final match for the Blue and the White. Redshirt junior libero Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) had 10 digs Saturday night and finishes the season with 597, which is the fourth best single-season total in school history. In just two seasons at Drake, Madden is already fifth in career digs with 1,024.

With just two seniors and nine first or second-year student-athletes, Drake had one of the nation's youngest rosters this fall. Tramosljanin and the injured Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn.) both had outstanding careers.

"We are ready to move forward and I know we are ready to make some more big steps in the spring," Sunga said. "We gained some valuable experience this year and we will get stronger, faster and that much older. We learned a lot, gained more confidence, which you need in a tough conference like ours but there is no fear now. I'm excited for the future with this team."