CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Drake volleyball team picked up a win in its second match at the 305 Challenge on Friday afternoon defeating the North Texas Mean Green in a straight sweep, 3-0.
 
It was a fast start for the Bulldogs in the first set as Drake rushed out to an early advantage following a huge 7-0 scoring run to make the score 14-5. The damage done by the Bulldogs over that stretch mainly came from the trio of Bliss Beck, Kacia Brown, and Macy Daufeldt with the three of them accounting for six of the seven points from kills and a service ace. Drake held firm on to its lead as the set progressed and another service ace by Daufeldt pushed the score to 21-14. It was much later that Drake took the set, 25-18, due to a few attack errors on the part of North Texas.
 
After falling behind 5-3 to open the second set, Drake rallied to jump in front of North Texas with a 4-0 scoring spurt featuring kills from Caroline Smith, Beck, and Brown to go up 7-5. The two sides traded points back-and-forth over the middle stages of the frame, but UNT reclaimed its lead at the 16-13. The Bulldogs delivered with comeback response, however, and used another 4-0 run to jump back ahead, 17-16. The set remained tight down to the final points, but the Bulldogs held on to their lead and claimed the set win, 25-22.
 
In the third, Drake was facing an early deficit once again but managed to bring the score back even at 10-10 getting a pair of kills from Lisa Melenciano and one from Addison Beagle as well. The Mean Green of North Texas started to separate away from Drake at the media timeout with the score now sitting at 15-12, but after the break the Bulldogs found their groove. Down 17-13, Drake dug deep and ripped off its biggest scoring run of the contest going on a 10-0 streak, capitalizing on multiple attack errors from UNT and picking up key defensive blocks. With all the momentum now in their favor, the Bulldogs rode that wave to set win, capped by a Brown kill, and a match sweep.
 
"I thought we played pretty well today, but overall, we are still learning as a group," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "It was a really solid team effort today as a handful of players put up some pretty amazing numbers. The key for us going forward is learning to be more consistent and how to build off the momentum we gain so that we don't let up in the middle of sets. FIU will bring us a challenge tomorrow as they are a tough opponent and are riding high after picking up a big win over Duke last weekend."
 
The Drake offensive hit at an impressive clip of .248 for the match and were led by Brown who recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Beck also chipped in on both sides with nine kills and three blocks. Melenciano, meanwhile, matched her season and career-high with eight kills. Freshman Katie Quick doled out 23 assists, while Beagle added 12 helpers and Gabbie Schroeder provided a team-high 20 digs.
 
The Bulldogs will close out their time at the 305 Challenge tomorrow afternoon with a match against the Florida International Panthers slated for 1:30 p.m. CT.