Box Score NORMAL, Ill. – The Drake Bulldogs fell in a three-set match at Illinois State on Sunday, Nov. 17 as the Redbirds won by scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-9 to move to 17-11, 10-6 MVC. The Bulldogs fall to 2-26, 0-16 MVC with the loss. The match start time was delayed 15 minutes and the contest was played in a powerless Redbird Arena due to severe storms in central Illinois.
Freshman Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.), who smashed a career-high nine kills Friday night at Indiana State, paced Drake today with eight kills. She committed just one attack error while hitting .318. Junior Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) added four kills, three digs, one block and one assist.
Sophomore Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) continued her strong play at the setter position for the Bulldogs as she finished with 14 assits. Senior libero Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa), who last weekend moved into second place all-time in career digs, had eight digs. Junior Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) recorded a team-high 12 digs.
In the opening set Schoene hammered a kill to give Drake a 7-5 lead, but it would be their final lead of the frame. Illinois State ripped off 11 straight points as the Bulldogs burned both of their timeouts during the run. Freshman Capris Quaites (Omaha, Neb.) ended the scoring run with a kill, however, the Redbirds went on for the 25-16 opening set win.
Set two was controlled by Illinois State as they smashed 20 kills with just five attack errors. The Redbirds took a 14-6 advantage as the Bulldogs called their final timeout. Out of the timeout, Drake used a 5-1 scoring run as Illinois State used their first timeout at 15-11. The Redbirds extended their lead to 22-12 before the Bulldogs scored four consecutive points to force another Illinois State timeout with the score at 22-16. After the timeout the Redbirds tallied three of the next four points to take the set, 25-17.
Illinois State cruised to a 25-9 to win the match. Drake hit just -.133 in the set with just four kills.
The Bulldogs close the 2013 campaign with two home matches this coming weekend. First up is Loyola on Friday, Nov. 22 before a contest with Bradley the follow evening (Nov. 23). First serve for each match is set for 7 p.m. Drake will honor its lone senior Madden on Saturday night prior to the match against the Braves.
