SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Two members of the Drake University volleyball team recorded double-digit kills, but it was not enough to slow down one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference on Friday evening. Paced by 20 kills from All-American Lily Johnson, Missouri State cruised past Drake, 3-0, to sweep the season series from the Bulldogs.
Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) had 11 kills and 18 digs for her 14th double-double of the season while Odessa Cody (Chicago, Ill.) continued her strong play with 10 kills. Defensively, Michelle Thommi (Chicago, Ill.) notched 21 digs for Drake (13-12, 4-7 MVC).
In addition to Johnson's 20 kills, Lynsey Wright had 11 kills for Missouri State (18-7, 9-2 MVC) to help the Bears move into first place in the MVC standings.
The Bears took the match by set scores of 25-13, 25-21, 29-27.
The Bulldogs were again plagued by a slow start as MSU used a 7-2 run to jump out to an 18-10 lead in cruising to a 25-13 win in the opening set.
Drake faced an early 10-4 deficit in the second set, but rallied to pull within two points, 14-12, thanks to three combined kills from Cody and Inderski. MSU extended its lead back out to five points, before Drake pulled within three points late, 23-20. However, the Bears scored two of the next three points to take the set and head into intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was much more closely contested with nine ties and five lead changes. Following an early 11-11 tie, neither team led by more than two points until Drake opened up a 20-16 lead. The Bears answered with an 8-2 run to take a 24-22 lead on five-straight kills from Johnson and Wright. From there, the advantage changed hands until MSU gained the necessary two points to take the set, 29-27, and claim the match, 3-0.
Following Friday's loss, the Bulldogs' travel to Wichita State to face the Shockers on Saturday, Oct.29, at 7 p.m. WSU fell to UNI, 3-0, on Friday evening to drop into second place in the Valley standings.
