CHICAGO, Ill. – The Drake University volleyball team opened up the Missouri Valley Conference season on top of the league standings with a 3-1 win at Loyola in the conference opener for both teams Friday evening at Gentile Arena.
 
Drake (11-3, 1-0 MVC) prevailed by set scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-13, 26-24 while hitting .248 as a team. Junior Cathryn Cheek (Coppell, Texas) led the Bulldogs with a career-high 21 kills on 56 attempts along with seven digs. Senior Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) added 17 kills on 34 attempts with just three errors to hit .412. Inderski also had 19 digs in the winning effort.
 
Drake's efficient offensive attack was engineered by setter Paige Aspinwall's (Dayton, Minn.) 38 assists. At the net, Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa) and Natalie Fry (Allen, Texas) combined for seven of the Bulldogs' 12 blocks and had a combined 11 kills.

"Obviously, we're happy to get the conference season started with a win," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "Last season, Loyola had our number, so it was good to get a win at their place. Our team played a great match with some strong volleyball despite struggling in the second set. Loyola kept playing better and better as the match went on and our team showed great tenacity in holding them off for the win."
 
Loyola (1-11, 0-1 MVC) had a pair of players record double-figure kills with Gabi Maciagowski leading the way with 12 kills on 33 swings.
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first set on a 10-0 run behind Cheek's serving to take control early. The Ramblers tried to mount a challenge, pulling within six points seven times before the Bulldogs closed the set with a 25-19 win.
 
Loyola carried that momentum to the second set as the Ramblers jumped out to an early lead that they stretched into an 18-10 advantage at one point. The Bulldogs answered with a 10-4 run to pull within two points, 22-20, via six combined kills from Cheek and Inderski, but could get no closer with Loyola holding on for a 25-22 win.
 
Drake answered the challenge by hitting .370 in the third set to cruise to a 25-13 win thanks to an early 7-0 run behind Macke's serving.
 
Drake's offense executed at the same clip in the fourth set, hitting .300, to put the Ramblers away, 26-24. Loyola led early, but Drake clawed back with an Inderski kill putting Drake up, 17-16. Six ties and four lead changes ensued until back-to-back Loyola errors gave Drake the necessary 26-24 advantage to claim the MVC opener.
 
Drake continues its conference-opening weekend Saturday at MVC newcomer Valparaiso. First serve against the Crusaders is set for 7 p.m.