DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake University volleyball head coach Darrin McBroom has announced the addition of four student-athletes to the roster for the upcoming season.
Joining the Bulldogs for the 2017 season are Julia Huiskamp (Davenport, Iowa), Alexa Aldrich-Ingram (Iowa City, Iowa), Kylee Macke (Ankeny Iowa), and Madi Ford (Coralville, Iowa)
"I am really excited about the girls that we are bringing in this year. In addition to the ones who signed early in November, we have four Iowa athletes who have had outstanding prep and club careers, not to mention a wealth of experience." McBroom said. "We are still an emerging program with lots of opportunity for these players to come in and make an immediate difference with their talents."
Julia Huiskamp is a 6-0 outside hitter from Assumption High School in Davenport, Iowa. Huiskamp was named Mississippi Athletic Conference Player of the Year, first team All-Conference, first team All-Metro, first team All-District, third team All-State and Class 3A First Team by The Des Moines Register. Huiskamp lead the MAC in kills and service aces.
"She has a strong arm swing that I think will allow her to become a terminal hitter in our league," McBroom said of Huiskamp. "We will be looking for her to develop her shots and her backcourt play this fall and when she has all of that in place she will be a total package player."
As a junior, she was named second team All-MAC, and honorable mention All-Metro. And as a sophomore she was named honorable mention All-Metro and honorable mention All-MAC.
Alexa Aldrich-Ingram is a 5-9 right side hitter from Iowa City, Iowa. Playing for Iowa City High Aldrich-Ingram was invited to the IGCA Senior All Star Classic, Aldrich-Ingram was also named first team All-Mississippi Valley Conference, first team All-Division, and to the 5A second team by The Des Moines Register. Aldrich-Ingram helped lead her team to back to back MVC Championships her junior and sophomore years and a MVC Tournament Championship her sophomore year.
"Alexa is an athlete with tremendous utility. The one thing that everyone notices about her is her ability to really get off the floor and fly," McBroom said. "She combines that vertical with a terminal arm swing that can score on anyone. I think she will be a great fit for our program and I can't wait to see her in our gym."
Aldrich-Ingram was named first team All-Conference, first team All-District, and honorable mention All-State her junior year, as well as being named MVC Player of the Year, first team All-Conference, first team All-Division, and second team All-State her sophomore year. Her club team placed third at nationals in its division.
Kylee Macke is a 5-6 libero/defensive specialist from Ankeny Centennial High School in Ankeny, Iowa. While at Centennial, Macke was a three-time varsity letter winner in volleyball and as a senior was invited to the IGCA Senior All-Star Classic after leading her team to a Central Iowa Metro League championship and its third straight Class 5A state championship. Macke was named the Iowa Libero of the Year. Macke was also named to the Elite All-Iowa team, and the Elite All-CIML team by The Des Moines Register.
"Kylee is a fierce competitor and that is the kind of culture that we are trying to establish at Drake," McBroom said. "She knows how to compete and she comes from highly competitive programs at Ankeny Centennial. As we graduated our starting libero this spring, we look for Kylee to come in and compete for that position and for playing time this fall."
Her junior year, Macke was named to the 5A All-Tournament Team, second team All-Conference, first team All-Division and honorable mention All-State. In addition to volleyball, Macke won letters in basketball and track and helped lead the basketball team to a state championship her senior year.
Madi Ford is a 5-8 libero/defensive specialist who is from Coralville, Iowa and attended Iowa City West High School. Ford was a three-time varsity letter winner in volleyball and helped her team qualify for state her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her senior year, Ford was named first team All-Conference.
"Madi is highly communicative and a tenacious defender," McBroom said. "You can just see that she loves this game and her teammates. Not only did our staff want her in our program, so did our athletes. With the graduation of our starting libero, there will be opportunity for Madi to compete for time this fall as a freshman, either as the libero or as a defensive specialist."
Her senior year Ford, recorded 90 sets 39 assists and 28 aces, with a serve efficiency rate of 0.935. Her club team qualified to nationals four-times, placed second in their division at nationals and won the Mideastern Qualifier.
The four recent additions to the roster will join the four student-athletes that commited to the Bulldogs in the fall in Emily Plock (Altoona, Iowa), Gillian Gergen (Janesville, Iowa), Hannah McCarthy (Allen, Texas) and Natalie Fry (Overland Park, Kan.).
