Drake concludes its home schedule this weekend with a pair of pivotal Missouri Valley Conference opponents entering the Knapp Center looking to bounce the Bulldogs from their precarious perch overlooking the possibility of clinching their first MVC Tournament berth since 1998. Drake hosts Evansville on Friday (Nov. 13) before entertaining Southern Illinois on Senior Night on Saturday (Nov. 14). Both squads sit right behind the Bulldogs in the league standings with four matches to play. Match time is 7:00 p.m. for each tilt.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
Live stats will be available for both matches through www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Evansville (13-14, 6-9 MVC) has dropped four of its last six matches since the Bulldogs handed the Purple Aces a 3-0 home setback on Oct. 17. Ginta Gabruseva leads Evansville in kills (3.20), while Julie Sylvester directs the team in digs (4.79) and Ellen Sawin in assists (10.39). Collectively, the Purple Aces are recording 12.74 kills, 11.86 assists, 17.42 digs and 1.76 blocks.
Southern Illinois (18-8, 7-8 MVC) has posted a 5-3 mark since the Bulldogs stunned the Salukis by a 3-1 margin on Oct. 16. Jennifer Berwanger leads Southern Illinois, averaging a team-high 3.54 kills, while adding 3.69 digs per game. Lauren Blumhorst directs the defensive attack with 4.19 digs, while Rachael Brown is distributing 10.69 assists. As a unit, the Salukis register 13.21 kills, 12.41 assists, 15.76 digs and 2.44 blocks.
SERIES RECORDS
The series between the Bulldogs and Purple Aces has been tightly fought as Drake owns a 19-14 advantage. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs collected a 3-0 victory in Evansville, Ind., on Oct. 17.
The Bulldogs encounter Southern Illinois for the 47th time in school history and the second time this season. The Salukis have won 31 of the previous 46 showdowns. Southern Illinois came up short in a 3-1 home setback against the Bulldogs on Oct. 16.
THE COACHES
Mike Swan is in his eighth campaign as head coach at Evansville, registering a 83-128 (.393) mark, including 470-358 (.568) in 24 years as a head coach.
Brenda Winkelar is in her fifth year leading Southern Illinois, posting a 71-71 (.500) record and is 153-143 (.517) in 10 seasons overall as a head coach.
Phil McDaniel is in his second season at Drake and owns a 31-30 (.508) ledger.
HEAD COACH PHIL MCDANIEL
Phil McDaniel is in his second season guiding the Drake volleyball program.
He rekindled the Bulldogs in his initial campaign as Drake posted a 12-20 mark in 2008. The 12 victories marked the highest win total for a Bulldog team since the 1998 unit captured 13 triumphs. It also represented the first time any current member of the Drake team had won double-digit matches during their respective careers.
Off the court, the team was named as one of the AVCA Team Academic Award winners, recording a 3.5 grade point average for the 2008-09 academic year and then sophomore Angela Bys (Marion, Iowa/Marion) was tabbed to the All-MVC Scholar-Athlete first team.
An assistant coach at South Dakota State from 2005-2007, McDaniel helped the Jackrabbits claim the 2007 Summit League title as well as a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
During his tenure in Brookings, S.D., he spearheaded recruiting efforts for the SDSU program, as well as monitoring academic progress for the Jackrabbits, who were honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with its Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award in 2005 and 2006.
During his last three years at South Dakota State, McDaniel played a part in helping lead the Jackrabbits to a 63-42 record, including the first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 2007.
McDaniel came to South Dakota State after spending three seasons (2002-04) as an assistant coach at New Mexico State. The Aggies were 86-15 during his tenure and claimed the Sun Belt Conference crown in each of his three campaigns while winning berths in the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and 2004.
While in Las Cruces, N.M., he coached Stevi Adams (2004 Sun Belt Conference Most Outstanding Player and 2004 AVCA South All-Region Team), Trinia Cuseo (2003 AVCA South All-Region Team and 2003 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention) and Jackie Godber (2003 Sunbelt Defensive Player of the Year and 2003 AVCA South All-Region Team).
The Mt. Zion, Ill., native served as head coach at J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C. from 2000-02, where he was twice named as the Big East Conference 4A Coach of the Year (2000 & 2001) in directing the school to a 42-7 ledger.
He earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Culver-Stockton College in 1996 and a master's degree in counselor education from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1998. He competed on the soccer and tennis squads while at Culver-Stockton.
DRAKE TO HONOR TRIO OF SENIORS
Having been at the epicenter of the resurgance of Drake volleyball over the past two seasons, seniors Chelsea Lauersdorf (Watertown, Wis./Watertown), Emily Madden (Van Meter, Iowa/Adel DeSoto Minburn) and Lindsay Schryver (Williams Bay, Wis./Williams Bay) will ne honored prior to the Bulldogs' regular season finale with Southern Illinois on Saturday (Nov. 14). The trio has appeared in 111, 119 and 111 matches, respectively.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
With the Bulldogs' 3-1 triumph at Southern Illinois (Oct. 16), Phil McDaniel registered his 27th coaching victory at Drake to move him past Randy Dolson into fifth place on the Bulldogs' career coaching victory list. He is two wins shy of surpassing Cheryl McConnell, who posted a 32-13-3 mark in her lone season as head coach in 1978.
MARCHING TOWARDS BULLDOG HISTORY
Junior Alana Wittenburg (Readlyn, Iowa/Wapsie Valley) has registered 1,540 career digs in 91 career matches. She surpassed Brandy Ossian (1,455/1993-96) for top honors in school history with her 19-dig performance versus Illinois State (Oct. 24). Junior Angela Bys has 1,122 career kills, good for fourth in the school record book, 25 behind Kim Bahr (1,147/1997-00). She also is rated fifth in career attack attempts with 3,063. Emily Madden is moving up the charts at third all-time with 3,412 attack attempts and fifth in career digs with 996. She needs four digs to become only the fifth player in school history to collect 1,000 digs.
LAST TIME OUT
Drake 3, South Dakota 1 (Nov. 9, 2009)
VERMILLION, S.D. - On the strength of a double-double from Emily Madden Drake avenged an early season loss to South Dakota as the Bulldogs downed the Coyotes last Monday (Nov. 9), 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14).
The Coyotes jumped out to an 8-3 advantage in game one and were able to withstand a late Drake charge to assume a 1-0 lead, earning a 25-22 decision.
The Bulldogs rebounded in the second game, racing out to an 8-2 lead en route to a 25-18 victory.
In a wild third frame that featured 10 ties and five lead changes, Drake erased a 12-8 deficit and went on to record a 25-21 triumph before rolling in the deciding game, 25-14.
A 22-dig, 17-kill performance by Madden marked her third double-double of the season and left her four digs shy of becoming only the fifth player in school history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau.
Chelsea Lauersdorf added her team-leading 12th double-double of the year with 40 assists and 11 digs.
The Bulldogs garnered double-figure kills by Madden, Angela Bys and sophomore Michelle Reidy (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic) with 17, 13 and 10, respectively. Alana Wittenburg led all players with 19 digs.
Drake attacked the ball at a .325 clip, buoyed by .526, .522 and .444 hitting marks from Reidy, Bys and Madden, respectively.
The Bulldogs bettered South Dakota in kills (62-53), assists (56-51), digs (79-66) and blocks (7.0-4.0), while being bested in service aces (4-1).
BULLDOGS BITES
• With its victory over South Dakota, Drake has won its most matches (19) in a season since going 24-4 in 1996.
• Angela Bys has posted double-figure kills in 58 of 91 career matches.
• Emily Heffernen (Manchester, Iowa/West Delaware) has recorded at least one block in 28 of Drake's 29 matches this season, including the previous 28 contests.
• Michelle Reidy owns blocks in 27 of 29 matches this fall, including seven affairs with seven or more in which the Bulldogs have gone 6-1. In her career, she has collected at least one block in 54 of 58 matches.
• Five Drake players have collected 10 or more service aces this season, led by 27 from Chelsea Lauersdorf. She is joined by sophomore Erika Price (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge), Emily Madden, Michelle Reidy and Alana Wittenburg with 15, 14, 13 and 12 aces, respectively.
• In its 19 matches won, Drake has two starters attacking the ball at a .300 clip or better in Reidy (.343) and Heffernen (.318). As a team, the Bulldogs have registered a .243 hitting percentage in those contests, while limiting the opposition to a .119 attack mark on the strength of 13.23 kills, 16.45 digs, 12.19 assists and 2.58 blocks.
• The Bulldogs have registered 14 double-doubles this season, led by nine from Chelsea Lauersdorf (Eastern Illinois - Aug. 29; Northern Colorado - Sept. 11; Illinois State - Sept. 25; Wichita State - Oct. 3; Southern Illinois - Oct. 16; Illinois State - Oct. 24; Missouri State - Oct. 31; Creighton - Nov. 7; South Dakota - Nov. 9), three by Emily Madden (Eastern Illinois - Aug. 29; Indiana State - Oct. 23; South Dakota - Nov. 9) and one each courtesy of Caitlin Johnson (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore Community) (Northern Colorado - Sept. 11) and Angela Bys (Indiana State - Oct. 24).
• Drake is 9-0 when recording 10 or more blocks in a match.
• The Bulldogs have won 11 matches in three games and four tilts in five. Six matches this season has gone four games - a pair of 3-1 losses to Iowa State and Missouri State and a quartet of 3-1 victories over Creighton, at Southern Illinois, versus Indiana State and at South Dakota.
• Drake has bettered its opponents in victories won by game in every frame this season. The Bulldogs are 61-42 in games captured.
• The Bulldogs are 7-1 when recording five or more service aces.
• Drake has hit .230 or better in 13 matches this season, compiling a 12-1 record.
• The Bulldogs have held opponents under a .150 attack percentage 14 times this season, compiling a perfect 14-0 mark.
• Drake is 13-1 when collecting more digs than its opponent.
• Eastern Illinois is the only team that has recorded double-digit blocks against Drake this season. The Bulldogs defeated the Panthers, 3-2, at the IPFW Tournament.
DRAKE STEADY IN NCAA RPI
Drake checks in at No. 103 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings released on Monday (Nov. 9). The Bulldogs are the sixth-highest ranked MVC school behind Wichita State (20), Northern Iowa (31), Missouri State (49), Southern Illinois (87) and Creighton (93).
DIGS FOR THE CURE
Drake's home match with Indiana State (Oct. 23) served as the Bulldogs' Dig for the Cure event to raise breast cancer awareness. Drake players donned pink socks and hair ribbons for the event and fans were asked to play their part by wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness month.
HEFFERNEN NAMED MVC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
The Missouri Valley Conference announced on Oct. 26 that Drake redshirt freshman volleyball player Emily Heffernen was selected as the State Farm MVC Freshman of the Week. The honor marked the second time this season that Heffernen had been recognized with the weekly accolade.
Heffernen fashioned together a strong week to help Drake extend its winning streak to seven straight matches, registering 2.42 kills, 0.58 blocks and 0.42 digs per game.
In Drake's 3-1 victory over Indiana State (Oct. 23), she posted 12 kills against no errors to collect a career-best .632 hitting percentage. She also added four blocks against the Sycamores.
A day later, she added 12 kills in the Bulldogs' come-from-behind 3-2 win over Illinois State. She chipped in two blocks.
I'LL TAKE KILLS FOR A 1,000
Angela Bys became only the eighth Drake player to surpass the 1,000-kill plateau when she collected her seventh of a team-high eights kills against South Dakota State on Oct. 7.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
Drake's come-from-behind win at Illinois State (Sept. 25) snapped a 26-match losing streak to the Redbirds. The Bulldogs' victory was the first overall against Illinois State since 1996 and the first in Normal (Ill.) since 1995.
START STRONG, STAY STRONG
The Bulldogs have started strong this season, outscoring opponents in game one (651-609). In game two, three and four Drake holds a 631-626, 670-616 and 256-225 advantage, respectively. The Bulldogs own a four-point advantage in game five this season, 72-60.
TOURNAMENT FINISHES
Drake has recorded one tournament championship (Hampton Inn Drake Invitational) and two second-place finishes (IPFW Invitational and Hawkeye Challenge) this season.
JUST GET IT OVER WITH
The Bulldogs have swept 11 matches this season, topping the total of six recorded last fall. The last time the Bulldogs won 11 matches by a sweep was the 1996 season when they recorded 13.
I'M DIGGIN IT
Alana Wittenburg has collected double-digit digs in 26 of Drake's 29 matches this season. She recorded a career-high 35 digs against South Dakota on Sept. 4 at the Hampton Inn Drake Invitational. In her 91 career matches, Wittenburg has recorded 77 double-digit dig performances.
"SETTING" AN EXAMPLE
Senior setter Chelsea Lauersdorf has been named to the all-tournament team in each of Drake's tournaments this fall. She ranks third all-time with 2,955 career assists.
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME
Drake's nine home wins are the most since the 1999 season. With one more home win this season, the Bulldogs can match the 1995 team that recorded 10 victories in the Knapp Center.
PLAYING WITH THE BEST OF THEM
The Bulldogs rank 45th (out of 329 Division I programs) in the NCAA in digs per game (16.39), 72nd in blocks per frame (2.29) and 91st in winning percentage (.643).
SHE DOESN'T PLAY LIKE A ROOKIE
Redshirt freshman Emily Heffernen is playing like a seasoned veteran this season, ranking second in total blocks (92), block assists (83), blocks per game (0.90) and solo blocks (9). She was named to the IPFW All-Tournament team and received MVC Newcomer of the Week honors earlier this season.
ONE YEAR AGO
The Bulldogs were 11-18 entering their 30th contest a year ago. Drake averaged 11.71 kills, 15.45 digs, 10.86 assists, 1.16 service aces and 2.04 blocks per frame. Angela Bys paced the squad in kills (3.40), while Wittenburg was distributing 4.86 digs per stanza.
IN OUR LAST FIVE MATCHES
The Bulldogs have averaged 12.95 kills, 17.37 digs, 11.79 assists, 0.53 service aces and 1.74 blocks per game in their last five matches en route to a 2-3 mark. Leading the way at 3.21 kills per frame is Angela Bys. Alana Wittenburg paces the way in digs at 4.95 per set, while Chelsea Lauersdorf averages 7.05 assists and Michelle Reidy is averaging 0.83 blocks per stanza.
STRONG AT THE NET
The key factor in the Bulldogs' success this season has been the play at the net where Drake owns a respectable margin in blocks over its opponents. Through 29 matches, the Bulldogs have garnered 234.0 blocks to just 153.0 for their opponents. Drake trails in solo blocks, 45-42, but has dominated the opposition in block assists, 384-216. Eight Drake players have posted double-figure blocks this year. That list includes Michelle Reidy (98), Emily Heffernen (92), Alisa DeBerg Roth (75), Angela Bys (44), Emily Madden (42), Nicole Brown (Appleton, Wis./Xavier) (23), Mikayla Sims (21) and Chelsea Lauersdorf (20).
WINS VERSUS LOSSES
In their 19 victories this season, the Bulldogs are averaging 13.23 kills, 16.45 digs and 12.19 assists per game, while limiting their opponents to 11.54 kills, 15.57 digs and 10.86 assists. In its 10 setbacks, Drake has registered 11.74 kills, 16.68 digs and 10.97 assists per frame, while seeing the opposition record 14.79 kills, 19.21 digs and 13.91 assists.
IN OUR LAST MEETINGS
Drake 3, Evansville 0 (Oct. 17, 2009)
EVANSVILLE, IND. - Drake strung together it third consecutive impressive league performance as the Bulldogs registered a 3-0 (25-19, 30-28, 25-16) MVC triumph at Evansville.
Drake took command of the match from the start as the Bulldogs committed only four attack errors en route to registering a .185 attack mark in game one to collect a 25-19 triumph. Evansville had 12 errors in the frame and didn't record a hitting percentage.
The offensive intensity picked up in the second game as Drake struck the ball at a .310 clip but had to fend off a Purple Aces' charge to earn a 30-28 decision.
Evansville proved to be its own worst enemy in the deciding third frame as the Purple Aces committed 14 errors, while netting just 10 kills and dropped a 25-16 decision.
Buoyed by a .455 attack mark from redshirt sophomore Mikayla Sims (Waterloo, Iowa/East), the Bulldogs finished the match recording a .235 hitting percentage.
Defensively, led by nine and seven blocks, respectively, from Michelle Reidy and Emily Heffernen, Drake was dominating at the net outblocking Evansville, 17.0-5.0, en route to holding the Purple Aces to a .041 attack mark.
Angela Bys directed the offensive effort for the Bulldogs with a team-high 11-kill performance, while committing only one hitting error. Alana Wittenburg led Drake with 16 digs, while Chelsea Lauersdorf and Caitlin Johnson contributed 23 and 11 assists, respectively.
The Bulldogs won the match despite being bettered in the final statistical count in kills (40-39), assists (40-38), service aces (3-2) and digs (58-56).
Drake 3, Southern Illinois 1 (Oct. 16, 2009)
CARBONDALE, ILL. - Drake posted a 3-1 (25-18, 14-25, 25-23, 25-19) victory past Southern Illinois.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 16-11 deficit in the third game, tying the frame at 22-22 on a block by junior Alisa DeBerg Roth (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) and Michelle Reidy and grabbed the lead for good at 23-22 when the duo connected on another block.
Angela Bys led Drake with 14 kills, while DeBerg Roth and Reidy contributed 11 kills apiece. Alana Wittenburg paced Drake with 19 digs. Chelsea Lauersdorf had 31 assists and 12 digs for Drake.
Clinging to a 19-17 lead in the first game, the Bulldogs went on a 6-1 scoring spree to close out the game with DeBerg Roth getting three straight kills to ignite the charge.
UP NEXT
Drake closes out its regular season with dates at Bradley (Nov. 20) and Northern Iowa (Nov. 21). Match times for both contests are slated for 7:00 p.m.
