THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Fri., Aug. 31 Northwestern 5:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 1 New Mexico St. 1:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 1 Cincinnati 5:30 p.m.
QUICK HITS
The Drake volleyball
team will travel to its second tournament of the season this weekend as they
head southwest to Las Cruces, N.M. for the La Quinta Invitational hosted by New
Mexico State. The Blue and White will face Northwestern at 5 p.m. Friday night
and will close out the invitational with two matches on Saturday, the first
against the host Aggies and the second against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Those
matches are at 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. All three matches will have live stats
available here.
Northwestern
The Wildcats hold a
4-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Bulldogs. Northwestern is
coached by Keylor Chan, who in his 14th season as head coach and has
four starters plus the libero returning from 2011.
New Mexico State
Drake and New Mexico
State will meet for just the second time ever on Saturday. The Aggies took the
only match, 3-0 at the Green Bay tournament in 2002. The Aggies are coached by
Mike Jordan, who is in his 15th season. New Mexico State was picked
first in the WAC preseason coaches poll and has two starters returning from
2011.
Cincinnati
Drake holds a 2-1
advantage in the all-time series against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats
advanced to the 2011 NCAA tournament after they won the Big East tournament.
Cincy is led by first-year head coach Molly Alvery and the Bearcats have six
seniors and six newcomers this season.
REWIND
Drake (0-3) dropped
its three matches of the season opening tournament in Green Bay, Wis. but battled
in all three matches. The Bulldogs closed the tournament with a superb effort
against Central Michigan, a team that qualified for the 2011 NCAA tournament.
The Blue and White lost 3-1 to the Chippewas but narrowly missed forcing a
decisive fifth set as they fell 30-28 in a wild fourth set.
NEXT WEEK
The
Bulldogs will play in their final non-conference tournament of the season when
they travel north to Madison, Wis. for the InnTowner Invitational, hosted by the
University of Wisconsin. Drake will play Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and
North Dakota State.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The
Drake University volleyball team has a young roster with six freshmen and three
sophomores this season. Everyone but freshman middle blocker Katie Allen
(injury) saw significant playing time this past weekend in Green Bay. A pair of
freshmen, Cassie Effken (Lincoln,
Neb.) and Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.)
started all three matches at the middle blocker positions. Sophomore setter Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) started
all three matches for her first collegiate starts.
TESTED EARLY
The Bulldogs
will be challenged early this fall with four non-conference opponents, who
qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2011 (Central Michigan, Cincinnati,
Wisconsin Milwaukee, and North Dakota State). Drake lost a tough, four-set
thriller to Central Michigan in their final match of the Green Bay tournament.
The Bulldogs will face North Dakota State twice this season, once at the
InnTowner Invitational on Sept. 8 in Madison, Wis. and again on Oct. 15 in
Fargo, N.D.
SENIOR YEAR
Senior
outside hitter Bentley Mancini
(Burnsville, Minn.) recorded her 300th kill of her career in the
match against Auburn this weekend. Mancini is one of two seniors on a young but
talented roster in 2012 and the Blue and White will lean heavily on her
powerful left arm for points.
GOOD START
Effken started all
three matches this past weekend and tallied 24 kills with 12 block assists. The
freshman middle blocker earned all-tournament honors for her efforts. She also
received consideration for MVC player of the week.
THE BULLDOGS IN 2012
Second-year head
coach Tony Sunga will have a young but talented team in 2012. Drake welcomes
seven newcomers to the program and they join six returning players for a total
of 13. The Bulldogs will face a strong schedule this season with seven
opponents that qualified for the 2011 NCAA tournament.
ATTACK
Senior Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn.)
will lead the Bulldogs attack this fall. The Minnesota native enters her senior
year with significant experience from the previous two seasons with 15 starts and
236 kills in 2011.
Fellow senior Jadranka Tramslojanin (Ruma, Serbia)
will once again provide help between the front and back rows. Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) came
on late in 2011 and the sophomore will have an increased role for the Blue and
White.
Emily Heffernen and
Michelle Reidy graduated from a year ago and their presence in the middle will
be missed, but a young and talented group of five is ready to fill their void. Sophomore
Erin Roggenburg (Ankeny, Iowa) and
freshmen Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.)
and Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.) have
stood out early and each will see significant time this season. All three
played for highly successful high school programs. Roggenburg helped Ankeny win
back-to-back state titles, Dulek was a four-time high school state champion in
Kansas and Effken helped her Nebraska high school win the state title her
senior season. Freshmen Katie Allen
(Mokena, Ill.) and Shelby Daum
(Battle Creek, Neb.) will provide depth at the position.
SETTER
Sophomore Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) steps
into the setter role after the graduation of Caitlin Johnson. Meyer saw time in
14 matches her freshman season and was elected to the team's leadership council
for 2012. Freshman Rebecca Brown
(Bentonville, Ark.) will backup Meyer. She also comes from a successful high
school program that captured two Arkansas state titles.
DEFENSE
Tramoslijanin and junior Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) both enter their second season at
Drake and will anchor the back row. Scarlett Howerter (Lincoln, Neb.) teamed with Effken her senior year of high school
in Nebraska and will provide depth in the back row.
DRAKE PICKED TENTH
Drake
was picked to finish tenth in the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference preseason
poll conducted by league coaches. Northern Iowa captured all 10 first-place
votes to top the voting with 100 points.
2012 LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
This season the Bulldogs will have a
leadership council with Bentley Mancini as the designated senior class member,
Sarah Madden as the designated junior class member, Halli Meyer as the
sophomore class member and Cassie Effken will represent the freshman class.
