EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Drake University volleyball swept the Evansville Purple Aces, 3-0, on Friday (Nov. 7) at the Carson Center. Drake won by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-21 to improve to 10-14 overall and 2-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference play. The loss drops Evansville to 8-18 and 4-10 in the MVC.

“I am proud of our team tonight,” said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. “They did a really nice job of executing in all phases of the game. They have worked hard in practice over the past two weeks to put us in a position to finish, and tonight that work paid off.”

Freshman Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) smashed a team-leading 11 kills and added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season for the Bulldogs. Sophomores Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) and Nicole Woods (St. Charles, Ill.) added nine kills and seven kills, respectively.

Drake middle blockers Katie Allen (Mokena, Ill.) and Kelly Shute (Dana Point, Calif.) played well for the Bulldogs as Allen had five kills and four blocks, while Shute started for the third straight match and finished with five kills and three blocks. Allen recorded a .455 hitting percentage, while Shute posted a blistering .714 percentage. Neither player had an attack error on the evening.

The Bulldogs controlled the opening set as they raced to an 8-4 advantage as the Purple Aces called their first timeout. Drake extended its lead to 16-12 as Evansville burned its final timeout of the frame. The break did little to slow the Bulldogs as they sailed to a 25-15 opening set win. Drake tallied a sterling .351 hitting percentage with just one attack error.

Drake carried the momentum from the opening set to the second set as the Bulldogs fell behind 1-0, but never trailed again to the Purple Aces. The Bulldogs cruised to a 25-16 win behind four kills by Woods, and three from Inderski and Schoene.

The third set between the two teams was more competitive, but Drake had an answer for Evansville every time the score was close as the Bulldogs never trailed on their way to the 25-21 victory.

The sweep by Drake snapped an 11-match losing streak and was the team's first 3-0 victory since taking down UT-Martin on Sept. 12.

The Bulldogs return to the court Saturday (Nov. 8) as they visit the Southern Illinois Salukis with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.