MURRAY, Ky. – The Drake volleyball team took to the court for a matchup with Murray State on Saturday evening from Racer Arena. The Bulldogs battled in a hard-fought contest against the Racers and came away with another tally in the win column winning, 3-1.
The first set saw the Bulldogs face an early deficit as they dropped the first four points. That four-point deficit remained at the 10-6 mark, but Drake slowly started to chip away at the Racers lead. Drake eventually claimed its first lead at 19-18 using a 4-0 rally that featured a pair of kills by
Megan Witte. The two squads traded points back-and-forth down the stretch as a
Macy Daufeldt kill deadlocked the score at 24-24. However, Murray State countered with a 3-0 run to close out the set, 27-25, and took the lead in the match.
Drake got out to a fast start in the second set behind a 5-0 run that made the score 11-5. Murray State had an answer, however, and jumped in front of the Bulldogs, 17-15, as the set moved through middle stages. After falling behind 23-20, the Bulldogs managed to fight back and draw even with a pair of kills from
Ashlynn Kuhn and a service ace by
Addie Schmierer. Once again, the Bulldogs and Racers went into extras trading points until Drake recorded back-to-back scores off another Daufeldt kill and a solo block from the outside hitter to take the set, 31-29.
The Bulldogs' defense sparked a 6-0 run to begin the third set as Drake recorded three blocks in that opening stretch. Drake gained further control of the set a little while later with a 5-0 scoring streak to make the score 18-5. All five points scored on the run came from Witte and
Bliss Beck. Murray State tried to mount a comeback, but the Bulldogs lead was too much to overcome as a kill from
Claudia Aschenbrenner secured the set win for Drake, 25-17.
In the fourth, Drake claimed a slight lead in the early stages, 8-5, but it was quickly drawn back to even by the Racers at 10-10. The two sides came together again at the 16-16 point, but then Drake went on a key 5-0 rally, capped by a service ace from
Jada Wills, to gain a 21-16 advantage. The Bulldogs held on the rest of the way as a kill from Beck ended the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.
"The resiliency that this team continues to display in these tough matches is a great thing to see," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "Murray State came out and matched us offensively all night long and they left us very little room for error. I thought winning that second set was pivotal because it propelled us moving forward to winning the third set and eventually closing it out in another tight fourth set. Megan and Macy played fantastic tonight and it's usually the case in volleyball when your outside hitters are playing well, things are going to go well."
Drake was led by the duo of Witte and Daufeldt on the night with the outside hitters each recording double-doubles. Witte tallied 23 kills and 10 digs, while Daufeldt totaled 22 kills and 14 digs. Next in line for the Bulldogs on the offensive end were Kuhn with 14 kills, and Beck with nine.
Addison Beagle racked up 38 assists to her teammates with
Madison Geise also provided 28 assists of her own. Defensively, Wills led all players with 28 digs.
Drake returns to Des Moines next weekend as it hosts Valparaiso (Nov. 8) and UIC (Nov. 9). The match versus the Flames on Nov. 9 will also be the Senior Day celebration for Drake volleyball.
