DES MOINES, Iowa — The Drake University volleyball team earned its 19th win of the year and improved to 8-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference with an efficient 3-0 win over visiting Loyola Saturday, Oct. 21, evening at the Knapp Center.
 
The Bulldogs hit .298 to earn their second win of the season against Loyola with the 3-0 sweep of Loyola by set scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-22.
 
"We really needed a win to bounce back after last night," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "Getting a win was critical for our team and to do it in three sets and to execute our game plan exceptionally well invigorated our team and our confidence tonight."
 
Drake (19-6, 8-3 MVC) was led by junior Cathryn Cheek (Coppell, Texas) with 17 kills and 17 digs, followed by freshman Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa) and senior Kyla Inderski with nine kills each. Freshman Kylee Macke contributed with 12 digs. Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) had 29 of the team's 43 assists.
 
"It was great tonight to be terminal and low error, that's what we're shooting for," McBroom said. "That balance was there tonight. We had three players with a 50 percent kill percentage and that was phenomenal."
 
Morgan Gresham led Loyola (1-20, 0-10 MVC) with twelve kills on 29 attempts. Alex Nunez contributed with 11 digs.
 
Loyola led early in the first set, but the Bulldogs pushed back with a 6-0 run as Macke and Cheek led Drake with seven digs and six kills, respectively. The Bulldogs also had a 4-0 run to end the set with a 25-16 advantage.
 
In the second set, Loyola took the lead early with the first two points, but fell behind after a 5-0 run from Drake. Cheek set the pace for Drake with six kills and four digs in the set and the Bulldogs also hit a .342 to maintain their lead for the remainder of the set and cruise to the 25-18 win.
 
Play in the third set was much more competitive and the Bulldogs fought hard to hold a lead throughout the set. Loyola took the lead early in the set at 9-8, but Drake fired back with a 3-0 run to take control. The Ramblers briefly took the lead late in the set at 21-20, but fell to the Bulldogs with kills by Cheek and freshman Natalie Fry (Allen, Texas) helping Drake close the set on a 5-1 run to prevail, 25-22, in the set and take the match, 3-0.
 
The Bulldogs hit the road again next weekend to compete against Bradley and Illinois State Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. The matches will be broadcast on The Valley On ESPN3.
 
Following five matches in eight days, the Bulldogs are eager to use the long week to regroup and prepare for the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference season.
 
"We have a long week ahead of us with some time to recuperate and reflect on our season so far," McBroom said. "We'll have time to watch some video and shore up the areas we need to improve on."