DES MOINES, Iowa - Ashley Baker registered a .423 hitting percentage and a match-high 14 kills, as the Western Illinois volleyball team fell 3-0 (26-30, 24-30, 28-30) to the Drake Bulldogs, Tuesday.?I give a lot of credit to Drake,? head coach Kym McKay said. ?They played hard and deserved to win this match.?Drake?s Emily Madden utilized two kills and a service ace to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-1 lead early in the second. Western (3-7) pushed back midway through the period, as the Westerwinds blocked three Bulldog attacks in five plays, cutting the Drake (3-7) lead to two. Shortly after, Erin Frick and Sarah Trimpe combined on a block to tie the game at 21. Drake then rattled-off a 7-1 run to take the lead for good, and finished the game 24-30.Western couldn?t achieve better than a tie in the opening game, even when given three consecutive points on Drake errors. Baker highlighted the period with six kills on 11 swings (.455 hitting percentage), yet the Westerwinds hit .128 as a team in the game.The Westerwinds grabbed their first lead of the match in game three, and took 15-10 and 19-12 leads that induced Bulldog head coach Amy Farble Knowles to take times out. Drake responded out of the second huddle with three-straight points, coaxing McKay to bring her team for a chat. The Westerwinds fended off Drake, until the Bulldogs took a late lead at 29-28, and ended the match 28-30.?We came out strong and physical in game three, with the mentality we should have,? Mckay said. ?The difference was Drake played with a sustained intensity, and we didn?t.?Senior Jennifer Alexander tallied a match-high 22 kills, and Patty Melinauskas notched a season-high six total blocks in the loss.Next on the slate for the Westerwinds is the University of Illinois-Chicago Invitational, Friday and Saturday. Western will face the hosting Flames, as well as Western Michigan and North Texas.- western illinois volleyball -