CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois Salukis swept the Drake Bulldogs, 3-0, Friday night in Davies Gym in Carbondale, Ill.

SIU (9-10, 4-3 MVC) smashed 43 kills with a .224 hitting percentage in tonight's match winning 25-16, 25-21 and 25-16. Drake (2-16, 0-6 MVC) was led by junior Amanda Platte's (Mount Vernon, Iowa) team-high nine kills, while freshman Capris Quaites (Omaha, Neb.) had five. Platte added eight digs.

The first set was controlled early by the Bulldogs as they raced out to a 5-1 lead and forced the Salukis to burn a quick timeout. Out of the timeout SIU took control going up 15-12 and forced Drake to call its first timeout. However, the Bulldogs could not slow down the Salukis after the break as they cruised to a 25-16 win.

Set two was closely contested as neither team built a large lead until late when SIU took a 22-16 lead with a 5-0 scoring run, which forced Drake to take its final timeout of the set. The Bulldogs battled after the timeout cutting the Salukis' lead to 24-21 after a kill by Platte. The rally attempt fell just short as Jessica Whitehead connected on a kill to close the set out at 25-21.

SIU controlled the entire third set building an early 8-4 advantage and extending it to 20-11 as Drake called its final timeout of the night. After the timeout the Salukis went on for the 25-16 win to take the match.

Whitehead finished with a match-high 13 kills for SIU, while Taylor Pippen had nine. Sophomore Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) guided Drake's offense with a team-high 21 assists, while junior Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) led the Bulldogs defensively with 12 digs.

Drake travels to Evansville tomorrow night with first serve set for 6 p.m. against the Purple Aces. Live stats will be available at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.