DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake and South Dakota State battled in a back and forth five-set match tonight as the Bulldogs fell just short losing 3-2 (25-15, 24-26, 25-15, 23-25, 15-9) to the Jackrabbits in the final match of the 2013 West Des Moines Sheraton Drake Invitational.

Drake (1-6) freshman Capris Quaites (Omaha, Neb.) netted a career-best 12 kills along with 19 digs, while sophomore Shelby Daum (Battle Creek, Neb.) also had 12 kills to set her new career-high. Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) paced the Bulldogs back row defense with 31 digs.

South Dakota State (1-5) was led in kills by sophomore Wagner Larson who blasted 26, while four other Jackrabbits finished in double digits. Lexi Folwer added 48 assists and SDSU had 69 assists total.

The Bulldogs have dropped five-set matches the last two evenings. Last night the Bulldogs nearly knocked off the DePaul Blue Demons (6-0), who captured the tournament championship with their win over Eastern Illinois earlier today.

“I want to judge the girls on level of effort and commitment and not on the outcomes,” said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. “If we do the right things consistently good things will happen. We are doing a lot of right things and even though these last matches haven't gone our way I'm proud of them. They have given it everything they can physically and mentally and are exhausted after this weekend.”

Drake played without sophomore Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.) for the second-straight match. Freshman Tegan LaBerge (Maple Grove, Minn.) earned her second career start in place of Effken and the first-year middle blocker tallied seven kills and two blocks.

“Anytime you lose a key player like Cassie you can never replace that, but I thought Tegan did a great job today,” said McBroom. “We talked about freshman mistakes and lack of awareness but that comes from a lack of experience. However, I thought she did an outstanding job of bringing enthusiasm and effort out there.”

Junior Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) added 10 kills for the Bulldogs, who have one final early season tournament, the Hawkeye Challenge, in Iowa City next weekend. The following weekend Drake travels to Missouri Valley Conference newcomer Loyola to kick off conference action.

The Bulldogs open the 2013 Hawkeye Challenge against the host's the University of Iowa on Friday, Sept. 13 at noon.