CORALVILLE, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team continued its weekend at the Kwik Star Klassic with a match against South Dakota on Friday afternoon. The Coyotes were able to get the better of the Bulldogs in a competitive match over four sets of play, 3-1.
 
The first set was an immediate competitive battle between the Bulldogs and the Coyotes with the two teams going blow-for-blow with each other and reaching a tie at 13-13. As the period waged on, neither team gave each other any ground all the way to another stalemate at 23-23. The largest lead seen by either team during that stretch was owned by Drake at the 20-18 mark following a Macy Daufeldt kill and a defensive block assist credited Daufeldt and Aniyah Davis. The set ended up moving into extra points with the back-and-forth action continuing between the Bulldogs and the Coyotes and ultimately it was South Dakota that took the period by a final score of 31-29.
 
Drake and South Dakota started off the second set similarly to the first by trading points, but the momentum swung in favor of the Coyotes as they used a 6-0 scoring run to propel them to a 11-7 advantage. Drake did have a response, however, cutting its deficit down to one at the 16-15 mark following a kill from Bliss Beck. The Bulldogs tried their best to pull out in front, but South Dakota never allowed the Bulldogs to string together a run and staving off the comeback effort to win the set, 25-22.
 
The Bulldogs found a rhythm to grab hold of the lead in the early goings of the third set as a 6-0 spurt gave them a 14-10 lead. The Coyotes slowly chipped away at Drake's lead, however, and brought the set to a draw at 16-16. The two teams proceeded to trade scores until Drake went on a 3-0 run to gain a little separation at 23-20 taking advantage of a South Dakota error, a service ace by Addison Beagle, and another kill by Daufeldt. After two set points, the Bulldogs went to Kuhn for the kill to secure their first set of the match, 25-22.
 
In the fourth, South Dakota built a steady lead following a 4-0 scoring streak to make it 11-6. The Coyotes never gave up their lead from that point on. The closest Drake cut its deficit down to was three points at 15-12, but South Dakota held strong down the stretch winning the period 25-16, which gave it the match, 3-1.

"From a volleyball fan standpoint, that was a really great game between two good teams," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "We battled tough, but South Dakota played almost an error free game and it is really difficult to beat a team when they play that error free. I thought Macy [Daufeldt] had another terrific performance and Jada [Wills] reaching a career-high with 40 digs in the match is incredible. Jada was the Libero of the Year last year for a reason. She's the anchor and heart and soul of our defense. Tomorrow is our last match before conference play, so hopefully we can go out there and really put something together."
 
Daufeldt was the offensive leader for the Bulldogs in the match as she and two others, Kuhn and Megan Witte, totaled double-digit kills in the match. Daufeldt posted 19, while Kuhn had 17 and Witte added 12. Beagle ended her match with a double-double performance posting 45 assists and 13 digs. Meanwhile, on the defensive side Jada Wills recorded a career-high 40 digs and Davis chipped in with six total blocks.
 
Drake will conclude its weekend with a showdown against tournament hosts, Iowa. The in-state matchup will begin at 2:00 pm tomorrow afternoon.