SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  – The Missouri State Bears swept the Drake Bulldogs, 3-0, on Saturday night at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield.

Missouri State (14-9, 6-5 MVC) won tonight 25-17, 25-9 and 25-19, while hitting .404 with 52 kills and just 10 attack errors. Amber Doolittle connected for a match-high 11 kills, while hitting .786. Karen Rivatto had nine kills, while Oliva Brand and Kayla Walton added eight kills each.

Drake (2-21, 0-11 MVC) was led offensively by Katie Allen (Mokena, Ill.), Tegan LaBerge (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) who each finished with five kills.

The Bears never trailed in set one as they won 25-17. Allen's kill tied the score at 3-3, but Missouri State ripped off five-straight points to go up 8-3, and forced Drake to spend its first timeout of the night. The Bears extended their lead to 20-14, which led to the Bulldogs calling another timeout. Drake had no answer for Missouri State who captured the opening frame behind 21 kills and just one attack error.

Missouri State carried the momentum into the second set scoring 10 of the first 11 points, before Platte and LaBerge teamed on a block at the net to cut the deficit to 10-2. However, it didn't slow the Bears for long as they cruised to a 25-9 win. Drake was limited to just six kills in the set.

The Bulldogs battled in the third and final set before falling 25-19. Drake charged back to trim Missouri State's lead to 16-14 after an ace by LaBerge as the Bears called their first timeout of the night. Out of the timeout Missouri State extended its to 20-15, which forced the Bulldogs to call their final timeout. The Bears scored the final point of the night off an attack error by LaBerge.

Sophomore setter Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) guided Drake's offense with a team-high 17 assists. She added four digs, three kills and a block. The Bulldogs were led defensively by senior Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) who tallied a team-leading 14 digs. Madden now has 1,434 career digs, which is just 21 behind Brandy Ossian's 1,455 digs that ranks second all-time in school history.

Drake hosts in-state foe Northern Iowa next Saturday, Nov. 2 in its lone action of the week. First serve with the Panthers is set for 7 p.m. The match will be the team's annual Dig Pink match.