DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake volleyball team was back on the court Saturday for a doubleheader in day two of the Drake Invitational and suffered a defeat to DePaul, 3-0, and bounce back victory over Milwaukee, 3-1, for its first win of the season.
AGAINST DEPAUL
The Bulldogs and Blue Demons started off the first set trading points to come together at an early 4-4 tie, but a quick 3-0 scoring spurt from DePaul put a little bit of distance between them and Drake to make the score 9-6. The Blue Demons maintained their three-point advantage through the middle stage of the set until another run advanced their lead over the Bulldogs out to 18-11 and forced a timeout from the Drake bench. Following the timeout, Drake closed the gap down to 20-17 taking advantage of some attack errors by DePaul and another kill by
Matthea Dalton, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get with the Blue Demons ultimately winning the set, 25-20.
Drake was out to an early 5-2 lead in the second set as Dalton kept pacing the offense, but the tide shifted in favor of the Blue Demons from there with DePaul going on a 6-1 stretch to jump ahead. Drake was still in a deficit when the media timeout came as the Blue Demons rattled off a 3-0 run to make the score 15-11. The Bulldogs tried to make up ground against the Bulldogs down the stretch and did pull within two at 23-21 following a
Bella Faria service ace which capped a 4-0 run, but DePaul didn't faulter and claimed the set, 25-22.
It was another close start to kick off the third set between Drake and DePaul as the Bulldogs inched ahead, 9-8, following back-to-back kills by
Lisa Melenciano and
Caroline Smith. Similarly to set two, however, the Blue Demons went on another run right before the media timeout and took at 15-12 lead at the break. Drake battled its way back to a one-point deficit at the 21-20 mark with a monster kill by
Bliss Beck, but DePaul responded with a 3-0 run to put an end to the match.
Dalton paced the Bulldogs attack with 11 kills in the match while Smith also reached double-digit kills with 10.
Jasmine Dulan recorded 18 digs leading the defensive effort and
Carolyn Maser dished out 18 assists.
AGAINST MILWAUKEE
The first set between Drake and Milwaukee proved to be a battle as the two teams duked it out all the way to an 11-11 stalemate. The Bulldogs then found some momentum and rode a 4-0 run into the media timeout to go up 15-11. Freshman
Kamryn Behrns was the catalyst behind the scoring spurt with a pair of kills. Following the break, the Panthers responded with a run of their own and brought the set even again at 17-17 and the point trading picked up again to the 21-21 mark. The end of the set was all Drake though with the Bulldogs securing the frame off a 4-0 run capped by a
Matthea Dalton score.
In set two the back-and-forth action continued between Drake and Milwaukee. The Bulldogs had a slight lead at 12-10 with
Lisa Melenciano and
Bliss Beck scoring consecutive points off a service ace and kill, but the Panthers came back again, and a 3-0 run put them ahead 16-14. Moments later another run by Milwaukee increased its lead out to 22-17 putting the Bulldogs in danger of dropping the set. Drake was able to charge back a bit using a 4-0 run to pull within two points at the 24-22 mark, but the set went the way of the Panthers on the next point.
A strong start in set three by Milwaukee saw the Panthers race out to an early advantage 11-4. Drake wasn't discouraged, however, and rallied behind a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 14-13. A pair of service aces from
Jasmine Dulan and
Bella Faria highlighted the dual runs for the Bulldogs. A defensive block by
Aniyah Davis and
Shay McMillen notched the frame even at 17-17, which fueled a shift in momentum for Drake as it went ahead 23-20. Smith and Beck then finished the job scoring kills for the final two points.
Milwaukee once again grabbed a lead over the Bulldogs early in the fourth set, taking advantage of some miscues to go up 9-4. Drake, just as it previously did however, threw a counter punch and was right back in the match at 12-11 after a kill by McMillen. The Dogs finally took their first lead of the frame using a 4-0 run, all of which were scored on kills, and jumped ahead at 20-17. The Panthers did claw their way back to even at 22-22, but Drake was determined to end the match and went to their young freshman Behrns for the clinching three kills.
Three Bulldogs recorded kills in the double-digits against the Panthers with Melenciano leading the way with 14. Smith and Beck chipped in with 12 and 11, respectively. Beck also added three blocks defensively, while Davis led the squad with four. Quick achieved another double-double performance racking up 27 assists and 10 digs and
Carolyn Maser also added 24 helpers to her credit. Dulan ended her match leading the Blue & White with 23 digs.
"Really proud of our kids efforts today as they gutted out a tough win tonight," Drake head coach
Darrin McBroom said. "Milwaukee played a really strong game, but our kids were able to persevere and find a way to win and I'm so proud of them for that. We kind of missed a mark a little bit against DePaul, but it was good to bounce back and show the resiliency with the win this evening."
Drake returns to action next weekend for the Wildcat Classic hosted by Kansas State from Manhattan, Kansas. The Bulldogs will take on Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Sep. 5 and then challenge the host Wildcats on Sunday, Sep. 6.
