Indianapolis, Ind. – The Drake University volleyball team only lost one set during the entire tournament en route to a Hampton Inn Invitational title at IUPUI Gymnasium after a pair of convincing wins over IUPUI and Saint Francis Saturday, Sept. 3. The Bulldogs improved their overall record to 5-1.
"It was a good weekend for the Bulldogs," head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "We found success in a lot of areas and saw improvement in our middle offense. However, we were tested and found some areas in which we need to improve if we are going to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference."
Drake 3, IUPUI 0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-17)
The two teams exchanged points until a kill by
Macy Daufeldt helped create some separation as the Bulldogs led 7-5. Over halfway through the opening set, Daufeldt was serving and found the hardwood for an ace. A play later,
Mariana Rodrigues slammed the ball for a kill and a 17-9 advantage. Sophomore
Audrey Dennison closed out the first set (25-14) with a kill assisted by
Madison Geise.
Set two started in a back-and-forth fashion like the first set. An ace served up by Rodrigues heled the Bulldogs pull ahead, 10-6.
Ashlynn Kuhn picked up where she left off yesterday with a kill to extend Drake's second set to lead to 23-17. Back-to-back attack errors by IUPUI put Drake in the driver's seat for the match.
Kara Peter recorded three consecutive kills in the third set to help extend Drake's lead to 19-13.
Addison Beagle teed up
Macy DeLeye for a kill and a 22-15 Bulldog advantage.
The Bulldogs secured another sweep with a 25-17 third set victory following a service error and attack error by the Jaguars.
Drake 3, Saint Francis 1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17)
Drake picked up where it left off in the previous match. Saint Francis was within striking distance in the first set trailing 16-13 until
Kacie Rewerts attacked from the middle for a kill. Three straight Red Flash attacking errors widened the Bulldog lead to 20-13. Drake notched the final four points to seal the set one victory, 25-15.
It was a see-saw battle in the second set all tied up at 22-22. The Red Flash handed the Bulldogs their first set loss of the tournament by claiming the last three points of set two.
Using newfound momentum, Saint Francis jumped out to a 6-2 lead in set three. An SFU service error evened the third set at 17-17. Drake ended the third set on an 8-0 run with
Haley Bush serving to take control of the match, two sets to one.
Bush dropped in an ace as the Bulldogs grabbed an early 9-5 lead in set four that she later extended to 17-12 with one of her nine kills in the match. Rewerts and Rodrigues teamed up for a block (22-16) as Drake neared a tournament crown.
A Saint Francis serve sailed off line as the Bulldogs took the fourth set and the 2022 Hampton Inn championship.
A mid-week match at Iowa State on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. awaits Drake volleyball as part of the Cardinal & Gold Challenge.
NOTES
- Haley Bush was named MVP of the Hampton Inn Invitational.
- Mariana Rodrigues and Jada Wills were both named to the Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team.
- The tournament victory is Drake volleyball's first tournament title since winning the Jackrabbit Classic at South Dakota State Sept. 17-18, 2021.
- Macy Daufeldt led Drake with nine kills against IUPUI.
- Wills recorded 12 digs versus IUPUI.
- Rodrigues led Drake in kills for the fourth time this season with 16 against Saint Francis.
- Rodrigues has had back-to-back matches with 10 digs or more (10 digs versus IUPUI, 17 digs versus Saint Francis).
- Rewerts was a part of five blocks against IUPUI and recorded six total blocks against Saint Francis.
- In the match against Saint Francis, Wills matched her season-best of 16 digs.
- Bush paired four service aces with nine kills against Saint Francis.
- The head-to-head series with IUPUI is now even, 1-1.
