NORMAL, Ill. - The Drake University volleyball team came out firing against the defending Missouri Valley Conference champions, Illinois State, before the Redbirds pushed past the Bulldogs, 3-1, Friday evening.

Drake (11-10, 2-2 MVC) claimed the first set, 25-22, before Illinois State (11-5, 1-2 MVC) rallied to take the second set, 25-16, and the final two sets by identical 25-19 scores. 

Freshman Grace Schofield (Mundelein, Ill.) led the Bulldogs with 11 kills and a career-high 18 digs for her second-consecutive double-double. Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) added nine kills on 27 attempts while Taylor Zant (Libertyville, Ill.) and Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) each had six kills. Chandelle Davidson (Gretna, Neb.) also notched a double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs.

The Redbirds had four players in double-figure kills with Ashley Rosch leading the way with 17. Jacqueline Twing had 47 of the team's 57 assists in the win.

In the opening set, Drake faced a 16-11 deficit before scoring six-straight points behind Michelle Thommi's (Omaha, Neb.) serving – with a pair of aces – to take a 17-16 lead. Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way until the Bulldogs forced two errors to take the set, 25-22. 

The second set was a stalemate to eight until the Redbirds started to slowly pull away and closed the set on a 6-1 run to take the set, 25-16, and knot the match at 1-1. The third set followed much the same pattern as an early 9-6 ISU lead blossomed to a seven-point, 17-10 margin that proved too much for Drake to overcome in dropping the third set, 25-19.

The fourth and final set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes as the Bulldogs fought to extend the match. The Bulldogs held an 18-17 lead late in the match, but Illinois State rattled off a 7-1 run to close the match with three of the points coming from Aly Dawson to give Illinois State the set, 25-19 and the match, 3-1.

The Bulldogs continue their two-game weekend MVC swing on Saturday at Indiana State for a 6 p.m. CDT contest. The Sycamores are coming off a 3-2 win over MVC-leading UNI on Friday evening to improve to 12-6 overall and 1-2 in the MVC. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.