EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Led by a career-high 19 kills from freshman Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa), the Drake University volleyball team defeated Evansville, 3-1, Friday night at the Carson Center. The win was the Bulldogs' ninth-straight victory and improved the team to 5-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference to add to its best start in conference play since 1996.
The Bulldogs defeated the Purple Aces by set scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18.
"We're glad we got the win tonight as we were a little off our game, but we persevered on the road," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "Our freshmen had good nights and I'm proud of our team getting it done under pressure when it counted. We still have a lot of room for growth in learning how to play under pressure, communicate and play better as a team."
Plock's 19 kills came on 36 attempts for a .417 hitting percentage while Cathryn Cheek (Coppell, Texas) added 12 kills and 15 digs for another double-double. Drake's (16-3, 5-0 MVC) defensive efforts were led by Natalie Fry's (Allen, Texas) five blocks and Kylee Macke's (Ankeny, Iowa) 26 digs. Fry also had six kills on nine attempts and sophomore Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) added 42 assists, just three shy of her career high.
Evansville (6-11, 0-5 MVC) was led by Rachel Tam's 16 kills on a staggering 50 attempts.
After trailing early in the first set, the Bulldogs used a 6-0 run midway through the set to pull away for the 25-19 win. The Purple Aces faced an early 6-1 deficit in the second set but rallied to pull even and later put together a 6-0 run late to even the match with a 25-19 win. Drake led early in the third set until Evansville rallied to draw even midway through. Neither team amassed a considerable lead until kills from Plock and Cheek gave the Bulldogs the 25-22 advantage. Drake held that momentum in the fourth set using an 8-0 run to pull from behind and take a 16-12 lead. The Aces briefly pulled within two points, but four-straight Drake points effectively guaranteed the 25-18 set win and a 3-1 win in the match for the Bulldogs.
Drake remains in Indiana for its next match, Saturday, Oct. 7, at Indiana State. First serve vs. the Sycamores is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT and will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3.
