Des Moines, Iowa — The Drake University volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Omaha, 3-2, in the first match of the Drake Invitational, Sept. 7, at the Knapp Center.
 
The Bulldogs, led by three players with double-figure kills, defeated the Mavericks by set scores of 11-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-13.
 
Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Ia.) led the Bulldogs with 18 kills to match a season high while sophomore Paige Aspinwall (Dayton, Minn.) had a career-high 42 assists. Junior Cathryn Cheek (Coppell, Texas) notched a double-double with 12 kills and a team-high 22 digs to help the Bulldogs improve their record to 6-2.
 
Omaha (2-4) hit .214 in the match as Bella Sade had 18 kills. Sydney O'Shaughnessy provided 52 assists while Claire Mountjoy had 21 digs.
 
"I'm proud of our team in holding it together to finish well," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "We just weren't clicking and were playing nervous at home in front of a home crowd for the first time this season. It just wasn't our team out there early. We made a few substitution changes to try to bring some life to the court and that paid off tonight."
 
Drake fell behind early in the first set with an 8-1 deficit and never recovered in falling, 25-11. In the second set, the Bulldogs and Mavericks were tied early, 8-8, but the Mavericks scored 12 of the next 15 points to take a 20-12 lead and cruise to the 25-16 set win.
 
 After the intermission, Drake took the match's momentum with a late, 4-2 spurt that gave the team just enough cushion to prevail, 25-21 behind 14 kills with six of them coming from Cheek.
 
"We went to the 5-1 after the first set, and it didn't pay off in the second, but we stuck with it, and eventually it paid off," McBroom said. "I'm proud of how we hung together through a tough mental test. We're still a young team trying to work together and gel. It's a work in progress."
 
In the fourth set, the Bulldogs opened up a 21-10 lead. Omaha was able to draw within six points, but the Bulldogs staved off the charge to force a fifth set.
 
In the final set to break the tie, Drake started off by scoring the first point and engineers a 10-7 lead to force the Mavericks into a timeout. Following the timeout, Omaha was unable to stall the Bulldogs with Drake prevailing, 15-13, to take the first match of the Bulldog Invitational.
 
Drake continues play in the Drake Invitational Friday with two matches. Drake's day begins versus Southeast Missouri State at 3 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. contest against San Jose State. Both matches will be broadcast on The Valley On ESPN3.