DES MOINES, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa Panthers knocked off the Drake University Bulldogs, 3-0, in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball action Saturday night in front of a season-high 678 fans at the Knapp Center.

UNI won by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-22 to improve to 8-6 overall and 3-0 in the MVC, while the loss moves Drake to 9-5 and 1-2 in the MVC on the season.

Freshman Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) paced the offensive attack for the Bulldogs with 10 kills, while sophomore Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) added seven kills and two blocks off the bench.

The score was 10-10 early in set one before UNI scored five of the next six points to take a 15-11 lead as Drake called its first timeout of the night. The Panthers extended their advantage to 19-13 as the Bulldogs were forced to use their final timeout of the frame. UNI went on to win the opening set, 25-15, behind a .433 hitting percentage. Schoene led Drake with three kills in the set.

UNI claimed a five-point lead of 12-7 in set two as Drake called its first timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs slowly worked their way back in the set, getting the score to 16-15 as the Panthers used their first timeout of the match. Drake wasn't able to slow the Panthers as they pulled away for the win, 25-18.

Facing a 2-0 hole going into set three, the Bulldogs hung tough with the Panthers. Trailing 12-9 after it called its first timeout of the frame, Drake battled back to within one point at 17-16 after a kill by Capris Quaites (Omaha, Neb.). However, it would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Panthers closed the match out with a 25-22 win. The frame featured seven score ties and four lead changes.

“The effort was there tonight with our team,” said head coach Darrin McBroom. “We got away though from doing the things we should do and it got us in trouble. We need to stay within ourselves and I think tonight we did that at times, but too often we tried to do too much and it cost us against a very good UNI squad. We have to move forward to our next two matches, which will be two more tough opponents in Missouri State and Wichita State.”

The Bulldogs will start the month of October on the road as they travel to Missouri State on Oct. 3 and to Wichita State on Oct. 4. Both road matches will start at 7 p.m. The team will return to the Knapp Center with contests against Southern Illinois and Evansville on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11, respectively.