DES MOINES, Iowa – The Missouri State Bears swept the Drake Bulldogs in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match on Saturday night (Nov. 1) at the Knapp Center. Missouri State won by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-18 to improve its record to 17-8 on the season and 10-3 in the MVC. The loss drops Drake to 9-14 and 1-11 in the MVC.

The two teams opened the first set trading points before Missouri State stretched its lead to 10-6 as Drake called a timeout. After the timeout, Missouri St. used an 11-0 scoring run to cruise to the opening set victory by a score of 25-15.

Missouri State started the second set on a 5-0 scoring run as Drake was forced to call an early timeout. The Bears later led 21-13 as the Bulldogs called their final timeout of the set. Following the timeout, Missouri State closed out the set scoring three-straight points for the 25-16 win.

Set three was more competitive for the Bulldogs as they brought in a pair of players for well earned playing time in senior Meredith Moore (Normal, Ill.) and redshirt freshman Taylor Zant (Libertyville, Ill.). Moore collected one dig and one kill in her time on the court. Missouri State claimed the set, 25-18, and the match.

Senior Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) and freshman Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) paced the Drake offense with seven kills each. In her second-consecutive start Kelly Shute (Dana Point, Calif.) had another solid night with three kills and a team-high five blocks. Redshirt sophomore Katie Allen (Mokena, Ill.) added four kills and one service ace as she continues her strong play as a starter.

“It was a tough match for us tonight against a very good team in Missouri State,” said head coach Darrin McBroom. “But there were some players that really impressed me. Kelly (Shute) had another great night for us after her performance last night. Katie (Allen) is really serving the ball well for us and Meredith (Moore) had some good swings tonight in the third set.”

Drake returns to the court on Nov. 7 as it visits Evansville for a 7 p.m. match with the Purple Aces.