Story by Ashley Beall
Photos by Joel Venzke
The Drake University women’s volleyball traveled to Iowa City this past weekend for the Hawkeye Challenge hosted by the University of Iowa.
The Bulldogs kicked off the tournament against the Hawkeyes and lost 1-3.
The Hawkeyes opened the game with a strong start winning the first set 25-12. Sophomore Shelby Daum played a solid game with eight kills and five blocks including two blocks and two kills in the first set.
The Bulldogs struggled to score off the Hawkeyes and had five attack errors and only had a total of four kills in the first set. The Bulldogs made a comeback in the second set and pulled away from the Hawkeyes 16-15, but their run was cut short, and the Hawkeyes took a 20-17 lead.
The Bulldogs managed to make a comeback and win the set 26-24.
The Bulldogs weren’t able to gain momentum during the final two sets of the game and were overpowered by the Hawkeyes.
Sophomore Rebecca Brown finished the game with 25 assists, and junior Amanda Platte had a total of 13 kills for the Bulldogs.
Later that night, Drake faced University of Illinois-Chicago and lost 3-1.
Freshman Capris Quaites rallied for the Bulldogs with 10 kills and nine digs. In each set of the game, the Bulldogs had several moments where everything fell together but weren’t able to pull it together to get the win.
“It’s frustrating because we are doing so many things so well, but we haven’t been able to put it all together for a win,” said head coach Darrin McBroom in a Drake athletics press release.
“Against Iowa, we came out flat in the opening set but bounced back well in the second set and third sets. Tonight it was flipped, we came out and dominated in the first against UIC, then we were flat in the next two sets,” McBroom said. “The girls did a good job of battling in the fourth set and tying the match up. Unfortunately, we could not force a fifth set.”
In the third game against Ball State, on Saturday morning, the Bulldogs once again fell 0-3.
The Bulldogs struggled to overcome Ball State who finished the game with a total of 43 kills.
In the first set, Drake took advantage of Ball State’s errors and tied the match 9-9. The run was short-lived though as the Cardinals pulled away for a 5-0 run and won the set 25-15.
The second set was very similar to the first, and Drake committed five errors and lost again 25-15.
During the third and final set, the Bulldogs continued to fight for the win but ultimately collapsed to the Cardinals and lost 25-19.
Fifth-year senior Sarah Madden was a key role in Drake’s defense and had 16 digs. Brown was also a key player in this game with a total of 19 assists.
In their final match of the tournament, Drake faced Western Illinois Saturday night and pulled off a 3-2 victory.
The Bulldogs stepped up their game and concluded their tournament play with a strong team effort.
The Bulldogs were led by Platte ,who had a career-high of 18 kills. Brown also played a major role in the win by contributing 41 out of the team’s 49 assists.
Western Illinois won the first set 25-21 due to three errors by Drake and three kills by Western Illinois. Drake battled out the rest of the game winning the first 29-27 and lost the second set 25-19. The Bulldogs continued to fight back and won the fifth and final set.
For her performance over the four games, Daum was named to the all-tourney team.
