Courtesy: MSU Photo Services Sara Staubach had 17 kills for MSU
Cara Hackmann, Calli Norman and Sara Staubach all recorded Missouri State season-highs in kills to power the volleyball Bears to a 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 28-26 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Drake Saturday evening at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
The MSU trio was nearly unstoppable, with 18 kills on .432 hitting for Hackmann, 18 on .536 hitting for Norman and 17 on .357 hitting from Staubach to rebound from DU’s set one victory. The Bears hit .325 as a team, notched a season-best 71 kills and blocked 12 Bulldog attacks to extend their win streak against Drake to 19 in a row.
MSU jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the second set and held on to tie the match heading to intermission, and dominated the third set by hitting .514 with 20 kills and two errors on 25 swings before holding off the feisty Bulldogs in the fourth set.
The Bears held a comfortable 20-15 lead in the final set, but the home team fought back, fending off several match points to forge a 25-25 tie. The teams traded side outs before Hackmann and Norman provided the final two punches to seal the victory.
MSU had 19 kills in the set, but it was the defense that made the difference as Terri Del Conte had eight of her match-high 22 digs and the Bears stuffed seven DU attacks. Bethany Fuller was in on four of those a total of seven in the match.
Nikki Vandepopulier had 13 digs to move into a tie for 20th on MSU’s career list with 936, while Hackmann added 12 digs for her second straight double-double.
Missouri State improved to 9-6 overall and 1-2 in the league, while Drake dropped to 8-7 and 1-2 in MVC play.
The Bears return home Friday for a 7 p.m. match with Indiana State.
Courtesy: MSU Photo Services