DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team began the conference portion of its season with its home opener from the Knapp Center against Missouri State on Friday night. The Bulldogs defended their home court in convincing fashion and swept the Bears in straight sets.
 
The Bulldogs and the Bears began the first set matching each other point-for-point coming to a draw at 11-11 near the midway point of the period. From that point on, Drake took over the set in large part to a pair of 3-0 scoring streaks. The Bulldogs took advantage of some errors made by the Bears and capitalized on kills from Megan Witte, Macy Daufeldt, and Ashlynn Kuhn to go up 17-12. Drake remained in the lead the rest of the way and took the set, 25-19.
 
The second set saw Drake come out and take a commanding lead from the start,  opening the period on a 5-0 run. The Bulldogs carried their momentum through the middle stage of the set and increased their lead further off another 3-0 scoring streak, highlighted from a Thea Rotto kill, to make the score 19-10. Missouri State claimed a few points late, but Drake took care of business and won the set again by a score of 25-19.
 
Drake once again took the lead to start out the third set after a score from Aniyah Davis made it 9-7. The Bears hung around with the Bulldogs for a while as the set progressed, but Drake found its rhythm and used a 5-0 rally to take a commanding 20-12 advantage. The Bulldogs maintained their hold on the set, which was capped off by a service ace from Addison Beagle, and secured the period, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.
 
"The ultimate goal is to try to win, so we got the win tonight in the home opener and the start of conference play," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "It feels good to get that win and get started off on the right foot. Tonight's win was really a diverse effort among many hitters, among many players contributing and everybody kind of doing their part to get the job done. That's important and if we can keep building on that I think we can be even better. In the Valley, on any given night anybody can win. It's a great conference in that regard. You've got to be on your game every night tomorrow night will be a challenging match that will require another total team effort."
 
Kuhn led the way for the Bulldogs on the offensive end with 13 kills in the match, followed by Daufeldt and Witte with 9 and 6 kills, respectively. Beagle added 22 assists to aid in the Bulldogs scoring and on defense Jada Wills tallied 23 digs, while Witte and Daufeldt were next in line with 16 and 15.
 
Drake returns to the court at the Knapp Center tomorrow as hit hosts Southern Illinois for another conference tilt. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.