VALPARAISO, Ind. - The Drake University volleyball team fell to Valparaiso, the Missouri Valley Conference leader, 3-0, Friday evening at Valparaiso.

Valparaiso (17-2, 4-0 MVC) hit .316 to defeat Drake 25-11, 25-16, 25-18 in three sets.

Drake (12-5, 1-2 MVC) struggled to match the Crusaders' attack, hitting .041 in the loss, its lowest average this season. Gillian Gergen (Janesville, Iowa) and Callan Holmes (Lorena, Texas) tried to jumpstart the team's hitters, with a combined eight kills on 16 attempts. Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa) overcame a slow start to finish the night with eight kills. Caitlyn Smith (Marion, Iowa) registered a double-double with 11 assists and 11 digs.

Valparaiso was paced by Lizzie Zaleski's 12 kills on 20 attempts. Two other Crusaders recorded nine kills.

Valpo used an 8-1 run early in the first set to take a 15-6 lead and kept that pace to clip the Bulldogs, 25-11, in the first set. The Crusaders limited the Bulldogs to -.073 hitting in the set as Drake registered just five kills and eight errors.

Drake built up an early 7-5 lead in the second set, but Valpo countered with seven-straight points to flip the score and take control of the set. Drake was never able to recapture that early momentum as Valpo pulled away for the 25-16 set win.

Facing a 2-0 deficit in the match, Drake was unable to slow the Crusaders' attack. Valpo continued to convert, hitting .375 with 18 kills and just three errors in the third set to take the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0.

The Bulldogs continue their two-game MVC road trip Saturday evening at Loyola. The Ramblers began the weekend on top of the MVC standings, but suffered their first league loss Friday evening to UNI. First serve for Saturday's match is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+