The Drake University volleyball team begins its 2017 season this weekend with four matches in two days at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Tournament. The Bulldogs begin play Friday at 4 p.m. CDT against Bryant, followed by a 9:30 p.m. CDT match against the host, Cal State Fullerton.
 
The tournament continues Saturday with a 4 p.m. CDT match against Farleigh Dickinson and a 9:30 p.m. CDT contest against UC Riverside.
 
The Bulldogs begin their fifth season under head coach Darrin McBroom aiming to improve upon last year's 17-15 record that was the program's best record since 2010 and the team's first winning campaign in six years. The Bulldogs eight MVC wins were also the team's most since 2010.
 
Earlier this month, the Bulldogs were picked sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, the team's highest preseason ranking under McBroom in the always competitive MVC. Last season, the MVC was one of seven leagues to earn three or more NCAA bids, joining the Big Ten (8), Pac 12 (8), Big 12 (6), SEC (4), ACC (3), and Mountain West (3).
 
Leading the Bulldogs' hopeful charge into the top half of the league are six student-athletes that made significant contributions in 2016, including senior and three-year starter Kyla Inderski. Last season, Inderski recorded 400 kills, the eighth most ever by a Bulldog in a season, for a 3.31 kills per set average. She enters this season with 1,044 career kills to rank seventh all-time in Drake history. She also ranks seventh all-time in digs at Drake with 1,058 and is just the fourth Bulldog ever to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
 
Grace Schofield and Odessa Cody also return after notching 175 and 186 kills, respectively last season. Schofield is also the team's returning leader in aces and is second in digs and her efforts last season helped the Bulldogs rank second in the Valley in aces and digs.
 
The Bulldogs also added one of the top recruiting classes in the Missouri Valley Conference and earned honorable mention honors from PrepVolleyball.com for their recruiting efforts. Joining the Bulldogs in 2017 will be Oklahoma transfer Cathryn Cheek as well as highly touted signees Natalie Fry, Gillian Gergen, Hannah McCarthy, and Emily Plock.

Following the Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic, the team will travel to Harrisonburg, Va., the following weekend for the JMU Invitational.