DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team returned to the court at the Knapp Center on Saturday evening as it played host to the Belmont Bruins. The Bulldogs continued their winning ways as they captured their seventh-straight win and improved to 6-0 in conference play sweeping Belmont, 3-0.
Drake built a quick lead over the Bruins to open the first set as it went on a 7-0 run right from first serve to force an early timeout from Belmont. The Bulldogs expanded their lead further as the set moved through the middle stages after back-to-back service aces from
Macy Daufeldt made the score 14-3. Drake was in cruise control the remainder of the way and claimed the early lead following the double-digit set win, 25-15.
The second set featured plenty of back-and-forth action with the two squads drawing even in the early goings at 10-10. Shortly after the Bulldogs used a 3-0 run, capped by a solo block from Daufeldt, to separate from the Bruins. Belmont answered right back, however, and eventually jumped ahead, 22-19. Drake staved off one set point from the Bruins and relied on its defense to carry the momentum to end set two on a 3-0 rally with the finishing point coming off a block assist by
Aniyah Davis and
Thea Rotto for the 27-25 win.
The Bulldogs found their rhythm again in the third set and after another early 3-0 scoring streak, with kills from Rotto and
Megan Witte, they went ahead 11-6. Similar to the first set, Drake continued to pull away from the Bruins as the set moved along and a
Bliss Beck kill marked the score at 17-9. The set and the match were ultimately secured with another 3-0 run from the Bulldogs to close things out, 25-15 and 3-0.
"We tried to come out tonight a little sharper, a little stronger, and the team did just that," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "We really set the tone in the first set and even though we lost some steam in the second set we were fortunate to win playing under pressure there and then bounced back strong in the third. Hopefully we are learning to play with some resiliency and we can continue to find ways to win when it's going well and we're up as well as finding ways to win when it's not easy."
The offensive leader for Drake in the match was
Ashlynn Kuhn who led all scorers with 12 kills on the night. Kuhn also chipped in on defense with five total blocks. Daufeldt and
Addison Beagle posted double-doubles with Daufeldt totaling 11 kills and 10 digs, while Beagle dished out 22 assists and 11 digs. Defensively, libero
Jada Wills tallied 30 digs in the match and Beck provided six total blocks.
The Bulldogs will have just one day off before they are back on the court as they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa for a Monday night showdown with in-state rival UNI. First serve against the Panthers is scheduled for 6 p.m.
