LINCOLN, Neb. – The Drake volleyball team almost pulled off an impressive comeback against Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon during the Husker Invitational, but came up just short losing in five sets after trailing 2-0 early on.
The first set between the Bulldogs and the Lopes was a back-and-forth battle all the way down to the final points. After the two sides traded points to a 7-7 draw in the early goings, Drake used a 4-0 scoring run, with a pair of kills from
Aniyah Davis, moments later to gain a slight edge, 12-10. The Bulldogs maintained their slight lead over GCU through the middle stages until the Lopes used a 4-0 scoring run of their own to jump ahead, 18-17. Down the stretch, Drake broke the 22-22 tie following another kill by Davis and was just two points away from taking the first frame, but GCU countered with a 3-0 scoring spurt to take the set, 25-23.
Drake found itself facing an early deficit to begin the second set as a 5-0 scoring run by GCU ahead 7-1 and forced a timeout from the Bulldogs. Another 5-0 run from the Lopes later on made the score 15-6 and caused Drake to use its second timeout to try and regain some composure. The Bulldogs never climbed out of that hole, however, and dropped the second set, 25-16.
The Bulldogs found their groove in the third set and raced out to an early 8-4 advantage spearheaded by
Caroline Smith tallying two kills in the middle of a 4-0 scoring streak. Drake kept its four-point lead intact as the set progressed with Smith slamming home another kill to push the score 18-14. GCU did eventually cut Drake's lead down to one point at 21-20, but the Bulldogs preserved and held on for the set win, 25-23, that was closed out from a kill by
Bliss Beck.
After
Kacia Brown recorded a kill to open the fourth set, Grand Canyon went on to score the next eight points to put the Bulldogs behind 8-1. Slowly but surely, however, Drake chipped away at the Lopes' lead and used a 7-0 scoring run of its own to pull within one at 15-14. Grand Canyon did start to pull away from the Bulldogs again at 21-16, but the Bulldogs dug deep and rallied again with another scoring run to tie the frame at 21-21. Drake and Grand Canyon traded points to eventually force the set to go into extra points, but the Bulldogs went to their duo of Brown and
Macy Daufeldt as the pair closed out the frame with three consecutive scores to win the set, 27-25.
In the fifth and final set, Drake had another uphill battle to climb as it fell behind 5-0. An immediate answer from the Bulldogs though due to some attack errors from GCU made it a one score match at 5-4. That would be as close as Drake would get ultimately as the Lopes stretched their lead back to five at 10-5 and went on to win the set, 15-9, and the match, 3-2.
"It was a tough loss," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "We came out slow and never really found rhythm to our game. The Lopes played very well and were scrappy on defense. Congrats to them on a good win. I was proud of our success in the middle today, which is an area we have needed to improve."
Daufeldt and Brown matched each other with kills to lead the Bulldogs with 14. Daufeldt also added 16 digs for a double-double performance, while Brown tallied eight digs.
Addison Beagle also had a double-double for Drake with 24 assists and 14 digs.
Gabbie Schroeder racked up 20 digs in the match for the most on the defensive side for Drake.
The Bulldogs will be back in action tomorrow afternoon to challenge No. 22 Utah in their final match of the Husker Invitational. First serve against the Utes is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
