Box Score Normal, Ill. - The Bulldogs defeated Illinois State 3-1 to win back-to-back road games against tough Missouri Valley Conference Opponents. Drake stormed back to win three sets in a row after a first-set defeat, improving their record to 12-8 overall and 8-1 in conference play.
Illinois State started hot, defeating Drake 25-22 in the first set. The affair went back and forth, with the two teams tying scores eight times. The final tie between the two teams was 18-18, but the Redbirds took charge from there. Illinois State was down 18-17 and stole momentum by winning five of six points to go up 22-19. The Bulldogs brought it close with an Illinois State attack error, a kill by
Aniyah Davis and a combined block by Davis and
Ashlynn Kuhn, but back-to-back kills from Khenedi Guest led Illinois State to a 25-22 win.
The Bulldogs evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-18 second-set victory where the Bulldogs seized control. The Redbirds carried momentum from their first set victory into set two, taking an early 7-3 lead. Drake proceeded to win nine out of 10 points to go up 12-8. Illinois State kept the set close, coming within one point of Drake at 15-14, but the Bulldogs went on a six-point run, widening their advantage to 21-14. A kill by
Macy Daufeldt, an attack error on Illinois State and a solo block by
Megan Witte earned Drake three straight points to secure the victory. Despite having 22 total kills compared to Illinois State's 28, the Bulldogs tied up the game.
Drake took the lead after the third set with a 25-20 victory. The Bulldogs continued their sound play from set two to take down the Redbirds in consecutive sets. The set was knotted up at 11-11 for the sixth different tie, but Drake led for the set's remainder.
Macy Daufeldt took over for nine kills and the Bulldogs had 16 as a team. Midway through the set,
Addison Beagle had back-to-back aces for Bulldog points 14 and 15. Witte finalized Drake's victory with a kill to reach 25 points.
The final set was full of scoring runs from both teams, but the Bulldogs remained in control to head home satisfied with a victory. The Redbirds began with an ace and a kill, but Drake responded with six straight points. Witte served an ace and
Bliss Beck, Kuhn and Beagle had kills to spearhead the effort. Illinois State also went on a six-point run to take an 11-9 lead, but Drake responded with another scoring explosion, winning nine of 12 points to go up 18-14. The Redbirds and Bulldogs traded blows for the remainder of the match, but the Bulldogs outpaced them to win 25-19.
"Really proud of our team tonight…it really was a great team effort!" said head coach
Darrin McBroom. "Illinois State always plays us tough….so anytime we can get a win in Redbird arena…it's a big deal. It has been a busy and challenging 14-day stretch for our team, but they have persevered and now we look forward to being home!"
Daufeldt paced the Bulldogs with 21 kills and had 15 digs to round out her impressive performance. Witte stuffed the stat sheet with 13 kills, six digs and four total blocks. The Bulldog duo of Beagle and
Madison Geise totaled 20 and 15 assists, respectively. Libero
Jada Wills led the team in digs once again with 19.
The Bulldogs will be on the court next on Friday, October 25 back home in the Knapp Center.
