NORMAL, Ill. – The Drake volleyball team began its four-match road swing on Friday night as it took on the Illinois State Redbirds, and the Bulldogs battled their way to a hard-fought five set victory inside CEFCU Arena.
After the first couple of points were traded back-and-forth, the Redbirds got the jump on the Bulldogs and took the first extended lead of the set following a 4-0 run to make the score 8-5. Another run from the Redbirds later on stretched their lead out to 17-10, but the Bulldogs countered with a run of their own to make a dent in the deficit as
Katie Quick and
Kamryn Behrns secured back-to-back kills at the 18-14 mark. That was as close as Drake would get, however, and the Redbirds won the frame, 25-20.
The second set saw the Bulldogs in another early deficit following a 4-0 scoring spurt by the Redbirds to make the score 8-4. Drake made up that ground quickly, however, and in a huge way with an impressive 6-0 scoring run to jump in front, 14-11.
Matthea Dalton had the hot hand from the service line for the Bulldogs during the run and scored three consecutive aces to vault the Bulldogs ahead. Drake remained in control the rest of the frame and evened the match up at one set apiece as
Lisa Melenciano closed out the set with a kill.
Drake was down early again in set three, 6-2, but the script was immediately flipped when the Bulldogs rattled off a 10-0 scoring run to take the lead. A large portion of the points during the run for Drake were unforced errors from the Illinois State attack, but
Carolyn Maser and
Shay McMillen provided some points with a service ace and a kill, respectively. Drake's lead was then extended to double digits at the 21-11 mark when the Bulldogs went for four consecutive scores getting kills from Behrns, Melenciano, and
Jasmine Dulan that eventually led to a 25-15 set win.
Needing just one more set win to close out the match, Drake looked to keep its momentum rolling in the fourth set. Illinois State had a different idea, however. The Redbirds were out to another fast start and grabbed a 10-5 lead over the Bulldogs to get the frame going, but Drake clawed back to 11-9 after
Aniyah Davis capped a 4-0 run by the Blue & White. From that moment on though, the set was controlled by Illinois State. The Redbirds took a page out of Drake's playbook and rattled off a 9-0 run to go up 20-9 and then moments later won four of the final five points to secure the set, 25-13.
The fifth set was a battle all the way to the final point between Drake and Illinois State, but it was the Bulldogs who came out on top. The two sides matched each other point-for-point in the early goings, but the Bulldogs put a little separation between them and the Redbirds with a 4-0 run, getting two kills from Dalton and an ace by Quick, to go up 9-4. Illinois State stayed within striking distance, however, and eventually cut the Drake lead down to 11-10, which forced a timeout from the Drake bench. When the action resumed, Drake held on to its lead and two errors from the Redbirds down the stretch proved costly as the Bulldogs won the frame 15-12.
"It wasn't a perfect game, but I am proud of our team for finding a way to get the win," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "It all came down to crucial moments tonight and our players performed in those moments. Illinois State played tenacious defense and really made us earn every point."
Behrns was the leading attacker on the night for Drake totaling 14 kills and a hitting clip of .433. Melenciano also reached double figure kills for the Bulldogs with 12. Dalton was all over the scorebook and registered eight kills, 21 digs, which was tied for the team high with Dulan, and four service aces. Meanwhile, Drake's duo of setters, Quick and Maser, nearly matched each other statistically with Quick going for 21 assists and seven digs while Maser tallied 20 assists and eight digs.
The Bulldogs will be back on the court tomorrow with another road contest as they head to Peoria, Illinois to go up against Bradley. First serve against the Braves is scheduled for 3 p.m.
