AKRON, Ohio – The Drake University volleyball team won its second consecutive tournament title  by beating Akron, 3-1, and Binghamton, 3-1, on Saturday (Sept. 6) at the Akron Invitational. Drake recorded scores of 25-20, 15-25, 25-23 and 25-21 over Akron and scores of 25-11, 23-25, 27-25 and 25-21 over Binghamton to win the Akron Invitational title and improve its overall record to 7-1 on the season.

“I am really happy for our team,” said head coach Darrin McBroom. “It is exciting to have this success and continue to build confidence with these wins. Overall we didn't play great in the two matches, but we found a way to get a pair of victories.”

In the Akron match neither squad held a lead greater than two points in the first set until Drake ripped off three-straight points, the last on a kill by sophomore Capris Quaites (Omaha, Neb.), to take a 21-18 advantage and forced the Zips to call a timeout. The Bulldogs scored two of the next three points after the timeout as Akron again called a timeout. The teams swapped points after Akron's last timeout as Drake called its first timeout with a 24-20 lead. After the Drake timeout, freshman Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) smashed a kill to give the Bulldogs a 25-20 opening win.

Akron rallied with six-straight points to go from an 8-4 deficit to a 10-8 advantage in set two as Drake used its first timeout. The timeout could not slow the Zips as they controlled the set, going on to a 25-15 win. The Bulldogs finished with nine kills, and six attack errors in the set.

Drake responded in the third set as it raced to an early 8-3 lead, which forced Akron to call its first timeout. The Zips would go on take a 14-13 lead, but the Bulldogs answered again as they stormed back with four-straight points to take a 17-14 advantage. After another Zips timeout, Drake held off a late charge by Akron to take the set, 25-23.

The Bulldogs earned their first win of the day by collecting a 25-21 victory in set four against the host Akron Zips. Leading the Drake offense was Inderski, who drilled a match-high 14 kills to go along with 11 digs and three blocks. Sophomore Nicole Woods (St. Charles, Ill.) added 11 kills, while fellow sophomore Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) just missed a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs. Chandelle Davidson (Gretna, Neb.) chipped in a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs.

Drake carried over the momentum from the Akron match to the opening set of the Binghamton match. The Bulldogs finished with 14 kills and zero errors with a .667 hitting percentage as they breezed to a 25-11 win over the Bearcats.

The Bulldogs led just once in the second set after a kill by Inderski made the score 16-15. However, Drake could not hold the lead as it would get as close as 23-23 after a kill by Woods as the Binghamton scored the next two points to take their only set of the match at 25-23.

The two teams battled in a wild back-and-fourth fourth set that featured 18 score ties and 10 lead changes. Trailing 24-22 after an attack error by Schoene, the Bulldogs scored three-straight points to go up 25-24 as the Bearcats used a timeout. After the timeout, Binghamton tied the match at 25-25, but Drake registered a kill by Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.) and a block assist by Inderski and Quaites to win 27-25.

The final set was tightly contested as Drake led just 20-19 late in the frame. However, it was all Bulldogs after that as they scored five of the next seven points to take the set and the match with a 25-21 victory.

“Both Akron and Binghamton gave us tough games especially Binghamton after we took the opening set,” McBroom said.  “After that we weren't able to put them away early and they battled all the way to the end.”

Woods and Schoene recorded 13 and 11 kills, respectively, to lead the offense. Sophomore Michelle Thommi (Omaha, Neb.) paced the defense with a match-high 25 digs, while Davidson added a team-high 27 assists.

Inderski was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and to the all-tournament team for the second-straight week, while Davidson joined Inderski on the all-tournament team for her performance in Akron.

Drake travels to the Skyhawk Invitational hosted by UT-Martin next weekend as it will play three matches in two days in Martin, Tenn. The Bulldogs start the tournament against UT-Martin on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m., followed by matches against Valparaiso and Western Carolina on Sept. 13.