Even with the pressure of a previous home defeat against University of Northern Iowa, the Wichita State volleyball team went into Charles Koch Arena Saturday night with a single purpose in mind: sweeping Drake.

With an inspired Ashlyn Driskill, a generous 30 assists from setter Emily Hiebert and a roaring crowd behind their backs, the Shockers managed to overpower their opponents as they beat Drake three sets in a row (25-15, 25-21, 25-20).

The first set proved uncomplicated for the Shockers, as they kept the lead until the end. Nevertheless, the second set saw continuous mistakes that helped the Bulldogs achieve an 11-7 lead, even though WSU struck back with Driskill’s potency.

The third set, though undemanding at first, turned into a nightmare as the Shockers wasted a 19-10 lead when they handed the Bulldogs seven points, yet they managed to come out triumphant, nonetheless.

Coach Chris Lamb, though hesitant to deem Driskill’s appearance mid-game a turning point, said his satisfaction with the outside hitter’s seven recorded kills in 10 attempts.

“Ashlyn has been a dominant performer in practice,” Lamb said. “What we’ve tried to do is isolate on videotape the things that are happening in matches, and you know, for some reason it hasn’t transpired into matches. Tonight, off the bench, she has her best performance.”

Lamb went on to emphasize the collective number of swings from the left, to which Jenny Whitledge also contributed with a further seven kills on 21 attempts, totaling a .190 attack percentage.

“That’s almost a .500 kill percentage, and I’ll take half of that,” he said. “If we can get it going out there, this team can move forward. We’ve had a bit of a drought.”

Driskill said she believes serving as a substitute boosted her performance — given that she witnessed the match before she took part in it — yet she also credits her mood on that day as a catalyst for her effective style of play.

“I was more relax and chill when I went to this game,” Driskill said. “I saw more of the court, I guess, and it helped me with my attack selection. It’s different because you can see how other hitters are doing, and then you can tell where you should go.”

Whitledge, on the other hand, recently recovered from a concussion she suffered in practice, which led her to miss some practice sessions. Despite errors against Drake that lowered her attack percentage to a .190, the hitter still managed to shine amongst her peers.

“I was getting in the flow of things, and that just kinda happened and it threw me off,” she said. “It takes a toll on your mental toughness because you’re out and you really can’t do anything about it because a concussion is something you can’t physically take care of, but I mean, after that I feel a lot better, and having those couple practices off I got to see a lot of things that I didn’t play in, so I got to see an outsider’s view.”

WSU’s next match will be on Oct. 10 in Springfield, Mo., at Missouri State.