CHICAGO – Missouri Valley Conference newcomer Loyola swept the Drake volleyball team, 3-0, at Gentile Arena on Saturday night.

Loyola (6-7, 1-1 MVC) captured its first Valley win 25-15, 25-15 and 25-15, while tallying 45 kills and hitting a blistering .395. Drake (2-10, 0-1 MVC) was paced by junior Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) who had seven kills and hit.278. Sophomore Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.), who missed the last six matches due to a leg injury, had 5 kills and two blocks. Platte added three blocks.

The Bulldogs battled back from an early deficit to tie the first set at 5-5 after a kill by sophomore Shelby Daum (Battle Creek, Neb.), but four straight points from the Ramblers helped them cruise to a 25-15 win.

Drake quickly fell behind 8-3 in set two and was forced to burn a timeout. The Bulldogs could not recover out of the break as the Ramblers would build large leads and take the set, 25-15.

Set three started the same as set two as the Ramblers raced to a 9-3 lead and once again the Bulldogs had to take a timeout. Loyola proved to be too much for the young Bulldogs squad as they rolled to another 25-15 win.

Sophomore Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) had a team-high 20 assists, while leading Drake's defensive efforts with eight digs. She added a career-high two blocks.

Drake closes the first weekend of conference play Sunday (Sept. 22) afternoon with a 2 p.m. matchup at Bradley.