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Drake went 1-3 in its weekend road swing at the Pioneer Classic in Denver. The Bulldogs dropped decisions against Missouri and California-Davis last Friday, but came back to defeat Denver in five sets on Saturday. Drake lost the finale of the tournament against Texas-San Antonio.
In Friday’s matches, junior Whitney Westrum led the charge with a total of 26 kills on the day. Senior Caitlin Johnson registered 29 assists in the two matches. Missouri took advantage of the Bulldogs’ .061 attack percentage to oust Drake in four sets (13-25, 25-20, 17-25, 23-25). Sophomore Stacie Hansen had a career-high 10 kills in the match.
Drake was no match for UC Davis, which won in three sets (23-25, 19-25, 16-25). The Bulldogs were out-dug 38-28 in the match.
The most exciting match of the weekend was the opener on Saturday, when the Bulldogs outlasted Denver (23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12). Westrum had a career-high 18 kills, which also was tops in the match. Senior Erika Price had 20 digs.
Westrum added nine more kills against UTSA, which rolled past Drake in three sets (19-25, 21-25, 13-25). She became the first Bulldog this season to top the 100-kill plateau, with 104 on the year.
The Bulldogs offense had another rough match, with only a .064 attack percentage. Drake had just 28 kills total. UTSA had 41 kills with a .257 attack percentage.
Drake forced Denver into 37 errors in the early match. The last three accounted for the final three points in the deciding set.
Senior Michelle Reidy and junior Emily Heffernen combined for 17 total blocks in the two matches on Saturday.
Drake moved to 3-7 on the season. The Bulldogs travel to Manhattan, Kan., to take on Kansas State tonight at 6 p.m.
Next game
Monday, Sept. 12
@ Kansas State, 6 P.M.
