GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Drake on Friday to open the 10th annual UND Classic from the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks. 

UND (1-6) just couldn't get it fully clicking on the offensive end, hitting .025 for the match and committing 27 errors compared to 30 kills. The defense held the Bulldogs (2-2) to just a .104 clip and 18 errors, but a pair of strong rallies by the visitors over the final two sets pushed Drake to victory. 

Lexi Ahrens led the way with 10 kills for the Fighting Hawks on 21 swings to hit at a .321 clip while Maddy Hornyak was second with seven kills. Peyton Sewell led the Hawks with 20 assists and was third with six digs. Darian Chwialkowski returned from an injury to lead the team with 20 digs and a pair of assists. 

After Drake took the first set, 25-18, North Dakota came out firing in the second frame to take a 11-5 advantage and force a Bulldog timeout. The stoppage seemed to favor the visitors, however, with Drake scoring 14 of the next 17 points to take a 19-14 lead. It was UND's turn to rally, with back-to-back kills by Ahrens and a pair of attack errors by Drake trimmed it to just a 19-18 set. 

Both sides went back and forth over the next points, eventually drawing the frame to a 24-24 tie, but Drake picked up the set victory with back-to-back points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. 

It was a similar script for the third stanza, with UND jumping out to an early lead, but Drake once again rallied with a 17-2 run to turn a 10-5 UND lead into a 22-12 Bulldog advantage. The visitors held on from a late push by the Hawks to complete the 3-0 victory. 

North Dakota will be right back in action tomorrow morning against Green Bay at 11 a.m. from the Betty.