DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University volleyball team dropped a thrilling five-set match, 3-2, to visiting Missouri State in one of the most anticipated matches of the Missouri Valley Conference season Friday, Oct. 13, night at the Knapp Center.
Missouri State (15-5, 7-0 MVC) prevailed by set scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 30-32, 15-9
Both Drake (17-4, 6-1 MVC) and Missouri State entered the match with perfect 6-0 records and in a three-way tie on top of the Missouri Valley Conference standing. The Bulldogs were riding a 10-match win streak while Missouri State had won 22-straight MVC matches to set up Friday's showdown that lived up to the billing.
"Tonight will go down at a loss, but in so many ways it was a win for our team," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "To start four freshmen against a team that is perennially in the top-40 and to take them to five sets with an amazing comeback speaks volumes. I'm so proud of our team tonight. We did so many things well, but just came up short in the fifth set."
Drake was led by three players in double-figure kills with Cathryn Cheek (Coppell, Texas) and Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) each recording 17 kills and both registered a double-double with Cheek adding 10 digs while Inderski had a career-high 24. Freshman Gillian Gergen (Janesville, Iowa) added 10 kills on 25 attempts and a career-high eight blocks. Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) had another double-double with 37 assists and a career-high 19 digs.
Kylee Macke (Ankeny, Iowa), the reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Week, continued her strong play with a team-high 27 digs while Courtney Morehead (Bellevue, Neb.) added 24 to help the Bulldogs set a school record with 130 digs.
Missouri State All-American and two-time MVC Player of the Year Lily Johnson had 28 kills on 88 attempts for Missouri State while Emily Butters had 44 digs.
Drake forced five sets via an incredible fourth set that needed 12 extra points to decide a winner before the Bulldogs pulled away for a 32-30 win. Drake trailed throughout the early part of the set and found itself down 20-15. However, a 9-3 rally gave Drake a 24-23 lead off an Inderski kill. Seven ties followed and Drake staved off set point four times until a Gergen kill gave Drake a 32-30 lead. Gergen also had five of her blocks in the fourth set, including three to keep Drake's comeback hopes alive.
"There's an intangible with our team where we've come from behind to win sets that maybe we shouldn't win," McBroom said. "To have that Bulldog tenacity where we won't quit and won't go away comes from our team's heart because we want to win so bad."
However, the Bulldogs weren't able to keep that fight up in the fifth set as MSU jumped out to an early lead and hit .435 in the decisive set behind six kills from Johnson to escape the Knapp Center with a win.
"Missouri State played a near perfect game in the fifth set," McBroom said. "Finding that same balance [that Missouri State found] will be key for our team as we grow in our game."
The Bulldogs' two-game homestand continues Saturday night as SIU visits the Knapp Center for a 7 p.m. match. SIU fell at No. 20 UNI Friday night, 3-0.
"My biggest concern postmatch is tomorrow [Saturday] night," McBroom said. "We have to move forward. Tonight's loss, while disappointing, does not derail us from our goals."
