CHICAGO, Ill. – The Drake University volleyball team stepped out of conference to win its sixth-straight match Monday, Sept. 25, evening with a 3-0 win at Chicago State. The Bulldogs, who are currently leading the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 2-0 record, improved to 13-3 overall on the season.
Drake prevailed by set scores of 25-15, 25-15, 27-25, while hitting .343 as a team to mark the sixth-straight match the Bulldogs have hit .200 or better and the 12th this season.
"I'm very pleased with the outcome tonight," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "We started out well and played a solid first two sets, but have to get better in the third set and not let up against teams. We played a low-error match on offense and I'm proud of that performance, but we have to get better a few things."
Senior Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) led that charge by recording 15 kills on 26 attempts with just one error for a .538 hitting percentage. Her 15 kills also moved her into second place all-time in kills at Drake with 1,240 in her four-year career. Inderski added 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and fifth in a row.
Senior Odessa Cody (Chicago, Ill.) and freshman Natalie Fry (Allen, Texas) also had efficient nights as Cody recorded five kills on nine attempts with no errors while Fry hit .600 with six kills. Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) had 27 assists on a night where 40 of the team's 44 kills came via assists. Defensively, Kylee Macke (Ankeny, Iowa) had 17 digs and Gillian Gergen (Janesville, Iowa) notched four blocks.
Drake used a 7-0 run early in the first set to pull ahead and was never threatened in securing the 25-15 win. The Bulldogs' offense kept clicking in the second set with the team hitting .480 to cruise to another 25-15 win. Following the intermission, the third set featured 10 ties and six lead changes before the Bulldogs came out on top. The Cougars used a late 4-0 run to force set point at 24-19. However, Drake responded with three combined kills from Inderski and Fry followed by three CSU errors to put the Bulldogs on top, 25-24. Another tie soon followed before a kill from Grace Schofield (Mundelein, Ill.) and a CSU error gave Drake the 27-25 advantage to win the set and match.
"I have to give credit to our team coming back from a 24-19 deficit in the third set and playing perfect to close the match," McBroom added.
The Bulldogs resume MVC action this weekend when they welcome Illinois State and Bradley to the Knapp Center. The weekend series begins Friday, Sept. 29, against Illinois State at 7 p.m. followed by a Saturday, Sept. 30, contest against Bradley at 7 p.m.
