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Volleyball Hosts Evansville, Meets Southern Illinois in Annual ?Dig Pink? Matchup

Women's Volleyball Drake Athletics

Volleyball Hosts Evansville, Meets Southern Illinois in Annual ?Dig Pink? Matchup

QUICK HITS   
The Drake University volleyball team (7-16, 3-6) hosts Evansville Friday night before putting on its pink for the annual “Dig Pink” match Saturday night against Southern Illinois.

DIG PINK
Drake's Saturday night match against Southern Illinois is its annual Dig Pink match. The Bulldogs will wear special pink uniforms and play on a pink court. Three different varieties of pink t-shirts will be available for a minimum three-dollar donation. In addition, an autographed pink volleyball will be auctioned off during the game. All proceeds will benefit the Side Out Foundation on behalf of Drake Volleyball. Finally, Drake volleyball players will sign autographs after the match and free volleyball posters will be available.

“The Dig Pink game is always a big game for me,” junior outside hitter Bentley Mancini said. “I think it's really cool that the Drake teams support it. We all get into the pink theme. They tape the floor pink, we all wear pink in our hair and paint our nails pink.”

Don't forget! Wear your pink on Saturday!

BIG SETS
Junior outside hitters Whitney Westrum and Bentley Mancini notched two of their best sets of the season last weekend.  Westrum led Drake to a 25-21, second-set victory over No. 12 UNI with seven kills in 14 swings. Mancini bested her teammate with nine kills in the fourth set during Drake's 3-1 victory over Bradley. Since conference play began, Westrum and Mancini have led Drake with 95 and 82 kills, respectively.

BOOM BOOM MANCINI
Bentley Mancini was the spark for Drake all weekend, totaling a team-best 21 kills and leading Drake to a 3-1 victory over Bradley last Saturday. The junior totaled just four kills in the opening three sets against the Braves, but powered the Bulldogs to victory in the decisive fourth set with nine kills, including three after Drake had reached the 20-point milestone. Mancini tallied eight kills and five digs against No. 12 UNI.

NEW ON THE OUTSIDE
Sophomore outside hitter Stacie Hansen stepped up big for Drake last weekend, totaling 17 kills in two matches, including 11 against No. 12 UNI. Hansen scored kills on Drake's 24th and 25th points to help push Drake past the Panthers in game two.

STILL MADDENING
Libero Sarah Madden set a career-high with 30 digs against Bradley last Saturday. Since taking over libero duties Sept. 17 against McNeese State, Madden has led Drake with 152 total digs and 4.34 per set.
ON THE OPPONENTS

EVANSVILLE  (Sept. 24 Match Recap)
The Purple Aces are 12-12 overall and 2-7 in the MVC. Evansville earned a five-set home victory over Wichita State Oct. 14 to snap an eight-match winless streak.
Brooke Maher leads Evansville with 252 total kills and ranks ninth in the conference, one spot ahead of Drake's Whitney Westrum, with 3.07 kills per set. Katie Klages leads the team with 418 digs and ranks sixth in the Valley with 4.40 per set.
The Purple Aces are coached by eighth-year head coach Mike Swan

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Sept. 23 Match Recap)
The Salukis are 9-9 overall, 3-6 in the MVC and have dropped three-straight matches.
Sophomore Jessica Whitehead ranks second in the Valley with 3.60 kills per set, trailing only Indiana State's Morgan Dall for the league lead. Junior Bailey Yeager leads Southern Illinois with 3.75 digs per set, good for eighth in the conference. Setter Rachael Brown ranks third in the league with 10.11 assists per set and is one of just three MVC setters to average double digit assists per set. Brown joins UNI's Bre Payton (10.47) and Missouri State's Carly Thomas (11.18) at the top of the conference leaderboard.
The Salukis are coached by seventh-year head coach Brenda Winkeler.
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Players Mentioned

Stacie Hansen

#11 Stacie Hansen

MB/OH
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
Sarah Madden

#21 Sarah Madden

DS
5' 7"
Junior
Bentley Mancini

#22 Bentley Mancini

OH
6' 1"
Junior
Whitney Westrum

#7 Whitney Westrum

OH
5' 11"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Stacie Hansen

#11 Stacie Hansen

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
MB/OH
Sarah Madden

#21 Sarah Madden

5' 7"
Junior
DS
Bentley Mancini

#22 Bentley Mancini

6' 1"
Junior
OH
Whitney Westrum

#7 Whitney Westrum

5' 11"
Junior
OH