DES MOINES, Iowa – The Illinois State volleyball team jumped out to an early lead and held off a late Drake rally to defeat the Bulldogs, 3-1, in a Missouri Valley Conference match Saturday evening at the Knapp Center.

The Redbirds (18-8, 8-5 MVC) won by set scores of 25-15, 25-9, 20-25 and 25-18 to maintain their lead over Drake (14-16, 6-7 MVC) for sixth place in the MVC standings.

The Bulldogs were led by Makena Schoene's (Seattle, Wash.) 17 kills on 47 attempts. Nine of her kills came in the third set in which the Bulldogs rallied for a 25-20 win.

“Makena had a big night for us,” said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "It was a slow start for her, but once she got going, she was seeing the court well and swinging aggressively.”

Drake also registered a pair of double-doubles from its setters, Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) and Chandelle Davidson (Gretna, Neb.). Davidson finished with 17 assists and 12 digs while Brown added 12 assists and 10 digs.

“I'm proud of our setters for playing stronger defense,” McBroom said. "They got better tonight at making sure nothing got in front of them on the floor and not giving up tips.”

The Redbirds were led by 19 kills from Ashley Rosch plus 16 kills from Aly Dawson and 15 from Jaelyn Keene.

Drake got off to a rough start in the first two sets, losing 25-15 and 25-9, with a total of 13 kills  and 14 errors through the first two sets.

Drake came back strong in the third set taking an early 7-4 lead and continued to dominate the set, never trailing, before winning 25-20 behind Schoene's nine kills in the set.

“Illinois State has a great program that was champions last year and returned a very strong team,” McBroom said. "Those first two sets, we shot ourselves. We couldn't get any traction going offensively. In the third set, we got back to playing our game by not making errors while slowing them down defensively."

The fourth set was a back-and-forth series, starting with no team leading by more than 4 until Illinois State assembled a 5-0 run before the Bulldogs brought it back within four points at 14-10. The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance for the remainder of the set, but could not rally to extend the match as Illinois State prevailed, 25-18, to take the match, 3-1.

The Bulldogs return to the road next weekend for a series at Wichita State and Missouri State. Drake faces Wichita State on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Before traveling to Missouri State on Saturday.