OXFORD, Miss. – Drake volleyball kicked off its weekend slate with a pair of non-conference matches on Friday at the Ole Miss Invitational. The Bulldogs first took on the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast and fell in a five set thriller, 3-2. Next on the docket was the host team, Ole Miss, who took down Drake in straight sets, 3-0.
 
AGAINST FGCU
The Bulldogs and Eagles battled it out in the first set of the match nearly matching each other point-for-point through the early stages. FGCU gained some momentum following a 5-0 run, however, that featured three kills and a service ace to put it ahead 12-7. Trying to make a comeback, Drake pulled within two points at the 23-21 mark off a kill from Ashlynn Kuhn, but the Eagles won the next two points off a couple of Bulldog errors and took the set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, Drake jumped out to an early advantage and went up four points at 10-6 after the Eagles committed a service error. The Bulldogs were able to keep their lead through the middle stages and went ahead by as much as seven points at the 24-17 point following a kill from Megan Witte. Despite reaching set point, Drake had to resist a 4-0 run from FGCU before Witte secured the set to even the match at 1-1.
 
The third set saw Drake jump out to another early lead following a 3-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Macy Daufeldt, which put the score at 8-4. FGCU immediately responded, however, and eventually took the lead at 10-9 after winning seven of the next eight points. From that point on the Eagles steadily increased their lead throughout the remainder of the set and secured it with a final score of 25-18.
 
With their backs against the wall, down 2-1, the Bulldogs had to lock in if they wanted to force a fifth set. Once again Drake gained an early lead, 8-5, to start the fourth set of play mainly going through the trio of Daufeldt, Kuhn and Witte on the attacking end. The lead was eventually lost, but the Bulldogs stayed tough to remain in reach through the middle stages of the set. With the score tied at 15-15, the momentum shifted in Drake's favor due to a vital 4-0 run capped by a solo block from Bliss Beck. The Bulldogs took their energy from that run and went on to finish the set winning it by a score of 25-21.
 
The Bulldogs and Eagles started the fifth set trading points back-and-forth to a 4-4 draw, but then the Eagles slightly separated themselves going ahead 10-6. A quick 3-0 run saw Drake get back to within a point, but the Bulldogs couldn't quite put anything together to jump in front. FGCU staved off the Drake comeback attempt and took the set 15-12, giving it the match victory, 3-2. 
 
AGAINST OLE MISS
Drake and Ole Miss started off their match with a competitive first set. Neither squad gave much ground as they came to an even score of 15-15 in the early goings. The Bulldogs then rattled off a 3-0 run with Daufeldt, Witte, and Aniyah Davis each slamming home kills to create a little separation. Ole Miss wouldn't go away, however, and eventually came back to tie the set at 23-23. After a few more moments of trading points, the Rebels took the set 28-26.
 
The Rebels got in a groove early on in the second set and pulled away from the Bulldogs making it tough for Drake to mount a comeback attempt. The period came to end with Ole Miss taking it 25-15 and going up 2-0 in the match.
 
It was another fast start for Ole Miss in the third set as the Bulldogs found themselves in a quick 6-0 deficit to begin the period. Drake eventually cut its deficit down to a point at the 13-12 mark after Kuhn tallied back-to-back kills and once again was within one again at 18-17. Ultimately, Drake couldn't break through and dropped the set 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
 
"Overall, I'm proud of the way the team fought today," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "We were really competitive in the majority of the sets we played in today and I think we are doing a lot of things right, but we just had some mistakes here and there that we can improve on. I think we are heading in the right direction towards finding what our identity is as a team is and we will look forward to our match tomorrow."
 
The Bulldogs will continue play at the Ole Miss Invitational with a match against Little Rock tomorrow starting at 2:30 p.m.