PEORIA, Ill. - The Drake volleyball team lost a close match to Bradley, 3-1, Saturday night in Peoria, Ill. Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn.) led the Bulldogs offensive attack with a match-high 17 kills and Jadranka Tramosljanin (Ruma, Serbia) recorded 13 kills, 25 digs and hit .407 with just two errors. Mancini added five block assists and hit .307 on the night.

Game scores were 25-18, 14-25, 26-24 and 25-21 as the loss drops Drake to 4-21 overall and 3-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley improves to 9-17 overall and 3-12 in the MVC with the win.

Tramosljanin smashed a kill to give Drake a 19-17 lead in set four and Bradley took its first timeout of the set. Back-to-back points by the Braves tied the score at 19-19 and the Bulldogs used their second timeout. After the timeout, a kill by Tramosljanin gave the Bulldogs a 20-19 lead before Bradley scored six of the last seven points to win 25-21 and take the match.

"It was a great effort tonight unfortunately we fell just a little short," head coach Tony Sunga said. "Our team fought through some adversity in a hostile environment and I'm proud of them. We had a couple of things that we could have done better but I thought everyone really bounced back after a tough match last night (UNI)."

The teams traded points early in set one until Bradley was able to take a 15-11 lead, the last point from a bad set by Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa). The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 17-16 before Bradley answered with four straight points and forced Drake to use a timeout. Out of the break the Braves scored eight of the final 10 points to win 25-18.

Drake raced out to a 5-0 lead in set two and forced Bradley to use a quick timeout. A kill by Tramosljanin, a kill by Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.) and a block assist by Mancini and Dulek helped Drake build a 16-7 lead. Cassie Effken's (Lincoln, Neb.) kill helped extend the lead to 20-11 before Bradley ripped off three straight points and forced Drake to take their first timeout of the set. After the timeout, Drake used a 5-0 run to even the match with the 25-14 win.

Madison Kemp's service ace gave the Braves a 16-11 lead in set three and forced a timeout by the Bulldogs. Drake rallied to tie the set at 23-23 with a kill by Scarlett Howerter (Lincoln, Neb.) but Bradley held off the rally and won 26-24 with back-to-back kills by Madelyn Erwin.

Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) had 13 kills with just two errors and hit .256. She added four fou block assists. Effken finished with seven kills and eight block assists. Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) tallied a match-high 28 digs.

The Drake Bulldogs return home for their final home matches of the season next weekend when Illinois State visits the Knapp Center on Friday, Nov. 9, with Indiana State the following night. Saturday will be senior night for Mancini and Tramosljanin. Both matches will have first serves of 7:05 p.m.

"We are excited to get home and I believe we will rise to the occasion," Sunga said. "It will be senior weekend for Bentley and Yatza (Tramosljanin) and we will bring energy that we always have at home."