DES MOINES, Iowa – Freshman Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) and senior Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) each tallied a double-double as the Drake University volleyball team held on for a 3-1 victory over the Bradley Braves on Friday night (Sept. 19) at the Knapp Center. Inderski finished with a match-high 14 kills and 12 digs, while Platte had 13 kills and 12 digs.

Inderski hammered the final kill in the match as Drake won by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 16-25 and 25-22 to win its Missouri Valley Conference opener and improve to 9-3 overall on the season.

Drake cruised to a 2-0 sets advantage early and trailed just once in the first two sets combined. A resilient Bradley team battled back in the third set with a commanding 25-16 victory to force a fourth set.

The Braves grabbed an early 6-4 lead in set number four as they later extended the margin to 15-12. However, the Bulldogs did not panic as they ripped off five consecutive points to go up 17-15. Drake extended the lead to 20-16, but Bradley responded by tying the score at 22-22 after an attack error by Inderski. Bradley committed a costly out of rotation penalty on its serve as the ball went back to Drake. Another costly mistake, this an attack error by Jamie Livaudais, pushed it to match point for the Bulldogs at 24-22, as Inderski followed with her final kill of the evening to clinch the victory.

“I am proud of the way the team played tonight,” said head coach Darrin McBroom. “We executed very well in the first two sets tonight, but again I thought we got too comfortable with a 2-0 lead. I have told the team that we can't sit back and relax when we go up 2-0 like that. I am very happy of the fight they showed in the fourth to get the win.”

Sophomore Chandelle Davidson (Gretna, Neb.) recorded a team-high 23 assists, while junior Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) added 18 assists for Drake. Platte chipped in three blocks, while Inderski dropped in two service aces.

The Bulldogs return to the court tomorrow night (Sept. 20) as they welcome Loyola to the Knapp Center with first serve set for 7 p.m. against the Ramblers.