VERMILLION, S.D. – The Drake volleyball team ended a three-game skid on Thursday evening as it defeated the Villanova Wildcats in its second match of the South Dakota Classic, 3-0. The victory also marked head coach Darrin McBroom's 200th career win at the helm of the program.
 
The Bulldogs were out to a quick start in the first set of the match after a 5-0 scoring run, with kills from Kacia Brown, Bliss Beck, and Caroline Smith, pushed them to a 7-2 advantage. Drake increased its lead over the Wildcats out to seven at the 17-10 point following back-to-back scores from Brown and Smith, which forced a timeout from Nova. After the break, the Wildcats made for a late push with a 3-0 scoring streak, but another kill from Smith secured the set for Drake, 25-18.
 
Drake claimed another early lead to start set two as a 3-0 run, featuring three kills from Macy Daufeldt and Lisa Melenciano, put the score at 7-4. Just past the halfway point, the Bulldogs found themselves with a six-point lead, 14-8, as Nova called a timeout to pause the action. When play resumed, the Wildcats were able to make a dent in the Drake lead and brought it to a one-point set at 19-18. Down the stretch, the Bulldog defense came through with consecutive blocks, one solo from Beck and one a tag team effort from Beck and Melenciano, to get the lead back up to four, 24-20, and set up a match point. One point later and Brown ended the frame with a kill, 25-21.
 
In the third set, Drake capitalized on some errors from the Wildcats and continued to make plays on defense for an early 10-5 lead. Similar to the other sets in the match, the Bulldogs further extended their lead out over Nova after a Daufeldt service ace put Drake up by six, 16-10. Drake remained in control the rest way as Brown delivered the final blow to win the frame, 25-18, and secure the sweep.
 
"Great win for the Bulldogs," McBroom said. "Villanova is a very good team, and we had to execute as a team at a high level and we did that today. I'm proud of our players and staff."
 
The Bulldogs displayed a total team effort in the match hitting at a clip of .282 and registering 12 blocks on the defensive side. Daufeldt paced the Bulldog offense with nine kills and added six digs. Melenciano was next in line with eight kills and four blocks. Beck led the defensive charge with seven total blocks to go along with six kills. Katie Quick tallied 18 assists to lead the team in the match, while Carolyn Maser chipped in with 15 assists and totaled a team-high eight digs.
 
The Bulldogs will close out the South Dakota Classic tomorrow as they face host institution South Dakota at 5 p.m. CT.