DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team started its 2026 season on Friday night with its first match of its host tournament, the Drake Invitational, and fell against the South Dakota Coyotes, 3-1.
It was a solid start for the Bulldogs in the first set of the match as they took an early 12-7 lead following a 6-0 scoring spurt.
Bella Faria got the momentum for Drake with a service ace, and the run was finished off with a combination block by
Bliss Beck and
Matthea Dalton. Drake still held on to its lead after the media timeout when a
Caroline Smith kill made it 17-13, but then the momentum shifted entirely to the Coyotes. A set-changing 10-0 run jumped South Dakota ahead of Drake, 23-17, and it wasn't long after that it claimed the frame, 25-18.
Drake came out in the second set with a big response and claimed a 10-4 advantage in the early stages. It was a 6-0 run for the Bulldogs, featuring two kills from
Hannah Ditsworth and
Kamryn Behrns each, to force a timeout from the South Dakota bench. Moments later, Drake increased its lead to double digits at 16-6 with the offense continuing to hum along behind a slew of kills from
Lisa Melenciano. South Dakota pulled within seven at the 22-15 mark, but Drake denied the set comeback and won three of the final four points to draw the match even at 1-1.
The third set featured a back-and-forth battle early on with the two sides coming together at 7-7 after a South Dakota Kill. A 5-0 scoring run from the Coyotes, however, distanced South Dakota from the Bulldogs with the score at 15-9 when the media timeout hit. Drake's deficit further increased to 19-10 as the set went on and it ultimately ended with the Coyotes taking the set at 25-18.
Set four began similarly to set three with Drake and South Dakota matching each other point for point early on, but a defensive block by the Coyotes sparked some momentum. Quickly, South Dakota raced out to a 15-9 advantage at the media timeout using two service aces in a five-point stretch. It was another South Dakota service ace moments later that dug Drake into a deeper hole at the 21-12 point with the set and match eventually going to the Coyotes.
"Tonight wasn't the outcome that we had hoped for, but we saw a lot of good things from our team," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "A lot of grit, a lot of fight. We did a lot of things well that we can build upon. South Dakota is a very established, strong program and is a great test for our new team. We look forward to building from here and moving forward."
Four players were tied among the kill leaders for the Bulldogs in the match. Beck, Ditsworth, Melenciano, and Smith all recorded eight. On the defensive front, Beck, Dalton and Ditsworth each tallied three blocks.
Katie Quick and
Carolyn Maser went for double-doubles with Quick tallying 19 assists and 13 digs and Maser racking up 18 assists and 10 digs, while
Jasmine Dulan registered 23 digs.
The Bulldogs are back on the Knapp Center court tomorrow for a pair of contests. Drake first takes on DePaul at noon and follows later in the day against Milwaukee at 6 p.m.
