OMAHA, Neb. – The Drake University volleyball team exhibited non-stop fight in splitting a pair of matches on Saturday to close out the Omaha Invitational. The Bulldogs defeated Omaha, 3-2, in the afternoon match before falling 3-0 to North Dakota in the tourney finale.

The Bulldogs (6-2) fell behind, 2-0, against Omaha before rallying to win three-straight sets to down the Mavericks, 12-25, 18-25, 30-28, 25-22, 17-15. The evening match was decided by a 27-25, 27-25, 25-18 tally.

“I'm really proud of our team this weekend,” Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. “We showed tremendous resolve and everyone is doing their part. We played some high-caliber teams and held our own against them this weekend. Even though we went 1-2, I'm really proud of our team.”

Makena Schoene (Seattle, Wash.) led the Bulldogs with 46 kills on the day including a career-high 27 in the win over Omaha to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) recorded 82 assists over the two matches while Michelle Thommi (Omaha, Neb.) added 38 digs.

In the first set against Omaha, Drake struggled mightily after the first four points and a 6-0 Omaha run later gave the Mavs a commanding 19-6 lead en route to the 25-12 win. The Bulldogs didn't fare much better in the second set as a 4-0 deficit coupled with a later 5-0 run accounted for the 25-18 tally.

The third set appeared poised to go the same direction with the Bulldogs trailing 18-10. However, Kyla Inderski's (Urbandale, Iowa) serving keyed eight-straight points as part of an 11-1 run to give the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead. The lead continued to change hands with neither team amassing the two points needed to win until back-to-back Omaha errors gave Drake the 30-28 win and forced a fourth set.

Drake trailed just three times in the third set and two kills from Schoene closed the set out at 25-22 to extend the match again. The Bulldogs trailed for just one point in the pivotal fifth set with Schoene accounting for two of the team's final four points in the 17-15 triumph to complete the come-from-behind win.

“It was an amazing match,” McBroom said. “Omaha hammered us in the first set, we struggled in the second set and in the third set we persevered and managed to squeak by. Then our team just gutted it out. We were behind in every category on the stat sheet, but managed to win the match.”

That same resolve showed in the match against North Dakota, but with less successful results. Despite the 3-0 loss, the Bulldogs forced two of the three sets to more than 25 points.

Neither team led by more than four points in the opening set until a UND ace and kill finally put it away at 27-25. The second set was decided by the same margin and was just as close from the first serve until the final point. Drake led early in the third set until UND began to slowly pull away on the way to the 25-18 win and sweep of the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs will have the opportunity to avenge that loss on Friday, Sept. 11, when they face North Dakota in the first of four games as part of the UND Classic in Grand Forks, Neb.