DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team returned to the Knapp Center for a Missouri Valley Conference showdown versus the Murray State Racers on Friday evening. The Bulldogs and Racers went down to the wire in a tightly contested battle, but the Bulldogs prevailed winning in five sets.
The Bulldogs and the Racers began the first set matching each other with scoring streaks, 3-0 for Drake and 4-0 for Murray State, but it was the Racers who claimed the slight advantage on the scoreboard at the 10-8 mark. Another run from the Racers pushed them to a five-point lead, 18-13, as the set moved along but the Bulldogs had an answer and eventually tied things up at 22-22 following a kill from Megan Witte. With momentum now on its side, Drake used three-straight kills coming from Thea Rotto and Ashlynn Kuhn to close out the set, 25-23.
Drake found itself facing an early deficit in the second set due to Murray State using a 5-0 scoring streak to propel itself to a 14-6 advantage. The Bulldogs tried to get a rhythm going but never got on a run as the Racers maintained their lead. Eventually Murray State secured the set with a final mark of 25-19 to even the match.
In the third, Drake burst out to a quick lead following a 7-0 run capitalizing on some errors from the Racers to make the score 10-5. Murray State responded, however, and brought the set even at 15-15 through the middle stages. Shortly after Macy Daufeldt went on personal 3-0 run for the Bulldogs to separate from the Racers, but once again Murray State had an answer and tied the set at 21-21. Murray State proceeded to go on a 3-0 rally to jump in front, 24-23, and then took the set in extra points, 27-25.
It was another competitive set between the Bulldogs and the Racers in the fourth with the two squads coming together for a stalemate at 10-10. After taking a slight lead following an error from the Racers and a kill from Kuhn, Drake gain controlled of the set going on a 5-0 scoring spree, highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Addison Beagle, to take a 22-15 lead. The Bulldogs then used consecutive kills from Daufeldt and Kuhn to win the set, 25-17 and forced a decisive fifth and final set.
After dropping the first two points of the fifth set, Drake quickly countered by taking the next eight points for a firm grasp on the lead. The Bulldogs never looked back and controlled the rest of the set with ease winning 15-6 and securing their sixth-straight victory, 3-2.
"Undoubtedly we're thrilled we escaped with a win tonight," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "Murray State challenged us and really pushed us to the brink, but I'm proud of the way our team responded in the fifth set. It was a really great game statistically in some compacities all the way around, so I'm proud of our kids that put up some great numbers. I think this was an important game for our team to realize that every team is going to come out here and challenge us."
On the stat sheet, a trio of Bulldogs recorded double-double performances. Daufeldt tallied a career-high 28 kills to lead all scorers and added 12 digs. Witte shined with a 20-20 game totaling 20 kills and 25 digs, which marked career-highs in both categories for the outside hitter. And Beagle racked up 34 assists with 10 digs to secure her double-double. Defensively, libero Jada Wills was at it again tying her career-high with another 40 digs.
Drake will have a quick turnaround as it hits the court tomorrow for a 6 p.m. match versus the Belmont Bruins.
