VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Drake volleyball team took down the No. 2 seed Valparaiso in four sets on Saturday evening from the Athletics-Recreation Cetner securing its spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title match.
The first set featured plenty of back-and-forth action between the Bulldogs and the Beacons. Valpo grabbed the early lead, 6-3, following a 4-0 run, but Drake rallied back to tie the score at 10-10 using a 3-0 run with kills by Aniyah Davis and Lisa Melenciano. The Beacons started to pull away just past the halfway point at 16-12, but the Bulldogs bounced back again to draw within one after back-to-back kills by Bliss Beck and Caroline Smith, which forced a timeout from the Beacon bench. When play resumed, the two sides traded points all the way to a 24-24 deadlock as Smith notched another score. However, Valpo came away with the next two points to win the first set, 26-24.
Macy Daufeldt sparked a charge to begin the second set for the Bulldogs as the senior registered back-to-back kills to double up the Beacons, 8-4. Valpo then made a dent in Drake's lead cutting the deficit down to two at 11-9, but a 3-0 scoring run moments later by the Bulldogs pushed the score to 16-11. A service ace from Katie Quick had the Bulldogs well in control of the set at the 21-13 mark, which eventually led the way for Kacia Brown to close it out with a kill, 25-16, and brought the match even at one set a side.
In set three Drake and Valpo dueled it out before coming together at 9-9. After that moment however, the Bulldogs took control. An immediate 5-0 run from the Bulldogs, with defensive highlights on a pair of combination blocks, put Drake ahead 15-10. The defense from Drake continued to shine and stretched the lead out to 22-16 after Davis and Brown teamed up for consecutive stuffs at the net. Beck was then the one who put the set away, 25-19, slamming home a kill and giving the Bulldogs the lead in the match.
The Bulldogs were off and running in the fourth set and took a 6-2 lead in the early goings off an Emaline Handzel service ace. Drake held its lead with its defensive presence at the net capping a 4-0 scoring streak on a combo block from Beck and Melenciano. Valpo found a response later in the set and made it a one-point frame at the 20-19 mark, but Drake countered to give itself some breathing room by going on a 3-0 run as an ace from Brown set the score at 23-19. Two points later, Handzel shut the door on her second ace of the set, and the Bulldogs claimed the match.
"So proud of this team," Drake head coach Darrin McBroom said. "It is always hard to get a win on Valpo's court. They are such a tough team to play, so it is no small thing for our team to come in here and get a win over them. Our offense was very efficient tonight and our defense figured out how to slow the Beacons down. Big win for the Bulldogs and this senior class as this will be the third time in four seasons that we're headed back to the MVC Championship."
Smith led the Bulldogs on the offensive end and tied a career-high 14 kills on the night. Her other mark of 14 kills also came against Valpo earlier this season. Brown was the only other Bulldog to hit double digit kills with 12. She also added a team-high 11 digs and five blocks. Defensively, Drake totaled 14 blocks in the match and Beck had a hand in eight of them, which tied a season high for the sophomore. Elsewhere, Addison Beagle and Quick each tallied 22 assists.
The No. 3 seed Drake will now travel to Cedar Falls and challenge the No. 1 seed and in-state rival, UNI, for the conference crown. The championship match is set for Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.