DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University volleyball team ran into a hot-hitting Southern Illinois squad as the Salukis downed the Bulldogs, 3-0, Saturday evening at the Knapp Center. SIU claimed the match by set scores of 25-20, 25-16, 25-18.

SIU (10-5, 1-1 MVC) hit .369 in the match with Abby Barrow recording 14 kills on 26 attempts for the victors. Drake (10-9, 1-1 MVC) was paced by Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) and Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) with eight kills each. Defensively, Michelle Thommi (Omaha, Neb.) had 14 digs for the Bulldogs. 

“SIU is a very strong program and they played better than us tonight,” said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. “We had too many errors and we weren't as crisp as we were on Friday night. We knew it would be a challenging match coming into it."

The first set was tightly contested with seven ties and four lead changes throughout. With the set tied at 16-16, back-to-back attack errors by the Bulldogs keyed a 4-0 Saluki run that proved to be enough separation for SIU to prevail. 

SIU never trailed in the final two sets as the Salukis jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set and later used a 4-0 run to build up a 17-7 lead in cruising to the 25-16 win. The third set started close, but a 10-5 SIU run proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome as they struggled to maintain momentum throughout the match. SIU was successful on 75 percent of its sideout opportunities on the evening.

“We couldn't get a lot of momentum going,” McBroom said. “SIU plays a very fast offense, which is something we're not used to. If they're executing well, it is a test for any team. We haven't seen an offense of that speed and it was a challenge for us to find rhythm."

The Bulldogs have a short turnaround before continuing Missouri Valley Conference action on Monday evening at Loyola. Tipoff against the Ramblers is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the contest being broadcast on ESPN3.

“There isn't a lot of time to recover, but I think our team is in good shape,” McBroom said. "We didn't collapse or fall apart tonight tonight. We played a decent match against a good team, but just couldn't get the traction we needed to challenge them."