Box Score PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley rallied from behind to pull out a 27-25 third-set win, but the Braves rally attempt from a two-sets-to-none deficit fell shot as Drake topped BU 25-13, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22 Sunday at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves collected a season-high 102 digs in the match, but the Bulldogs hit .201 as a team and tallied 18 blocks en route to their 20th victory of the season.
Drake jumped out of the gates strong, taking an 11-4 lead early in the first set. The Bulldogs hit .297 in the opening frame and never trailed as they went on to take the first set by the score of 25-13.
Bradley (4-19 overall, 0-11 MVC) slowed down Drake's attack in the second set and the score was tied at 12-12 after a Bulldog attack error. Bentley Mancini highlighted a 9-2 DU run with four kills to help the Bulldogs go in front 21-14. The Braves got no closer than four points down the stretch as Drake (20-6 overall, 5-6 MVC) took the set 25-20.
BU needed a late rally in the third set to avoid the sweep after the Bulldogs took a 24-21 lead on a Whitney Westrum kill. Senior Melissa Collins (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) found the floor with a kill and freshman Amy Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) followed with one of her own to pull the Braves within a point at 24-23. A Drake attack error was followed by a Bradley block to put BU in front 25-24. Westrum answered with another kill to knot the score at 24-24, but an Angelos kill and Collins service ace closed out a 27-25 come-from-behind win for the Braves.
The fourth set featured four lead changes and 13 ties before Drake was able to close out the match with a 25-22 win. Neither team led by more than three points in the set and Bradley held a 20-19 lead when the Bulldogs used a late push to take the frame. With the Braves trailing 22-21 the squads traded blocks to make the score 23-22 in favor of Drake. A BU service error gave the Bulldogs match-point at 24-22 and Alisa DeBerg Roth followed with a service ace to seal the victory for Drake.
Angelos led Bradley with 12 kills, while sophomore Madelyn Ervin (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) was also in double figures with 10 kills. Junior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) turned in a season-best 25 digs to pass Briony Hammet (979 career digs) for 13th on Bradley's career digs list and heads into Tuesday's home match against Chicago State needing eight digs to reach 1,000 in her career. Freshman Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) added 20 digs, while Collins (14 digs) and junior Jennifer Sykes (Racine, Wis./Case/Parkland C.C.) [12 digs] each had season highs to help lead Bradley's defensive efforts.
Angela Bys led Drake with 14 kills and boasted a .351 attack percentage to go along with six blocks. Bys was one of three Bulldogs in double figures in kills, while Alana Wittenburg tallied a match-high 28 digs to pace four Drake players in double figures in digs.
Bradley closes out a three-match homestand Tuesday with a 6 p.m. match against Chicago State at Renaissance Coliseum in the final non-conference match of the season.
