DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team was back in Des Moines after spending a week on the road as it played host to Indiana State for a Friday night MVC tilt. The Bulldogs continued their winning ways over conference opponents with a sweep of the Sycamores.
Drake and Indiana State began the match with a competitive first set as the two sides came to a stalemate in the early stages, 10-10. The Bulldogs and Sycamores continued to trade points as the set moved along, but Drake gained some slight separation after an
Ashlynn Kuhn kill set the score at 22-19. Drake maintained its lead down the stretch and Kuhn secured the win with another kill, 25-21.
The Bulldogs found themselves facing a deficit in the beginning stages of the second set as an Indiana State service ace made the score 8-4. Drake battled back, however, and eventually took the lead at 11-10 following a 3-0 scoring run. The Bulldogs went on another scoring run forcing the Sycamores to take a timeout at the 21-17 mark and after the break Indiana State immediately countered with a run of its own to pull within a point, 22-21. Drake staved off the comeback attempt from the Sycamores though and
Macy Daufeldt tallied the set-winner, 25-22.
The third set continued the back-and-forth pace of play between Drake and Indiana State with the two squads once again coming together at a 10-10 draw. Just before the media timeout the Bulldogs used a 3-0 rally to go up 15-12 and settled in from there. A 4-0 run featuring kills Daufeldt,
Aniyah Davis and
Megan Witte, increased the Bulldog lead to seven, and not long after Kuhn closed the match with another kill giving Drake the set victory, 25-16, and the sweep, 3-0.
"We did well in the third set and really began to put it all together in the third set," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "I'm happy about that, but wished we could have done that in the earlier sets. Macy [Daufeldt] kind of started off slow, but once she got going, she was able to have a big impact in the match. I think Bliss [Beck] had one of the best matches of her career and we're needing to get our middles involved more, so it was great to see that. Evansville will bring a different style of play, so we'll have to be able to adapt and meet that challenge tomorrow night."
Daufeldt led all scorers in the match securing 19 kills and was the only player to earn a double-double as she tacked on 14 digs. Freshman
Bliss Beck had one of the best games of her young career recording nine kills and five blocks.
Addison Beagle tallied 26 assists on the night and
Jada Wills led the way defensively with 27 digs.
Drake is back at the Knapp Center with another match tomorrow, Oct. 26, as it hosts Evansville. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.
