The Drake University volleyball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a pair of matches against Loyola and Valparaiso before concluding its non-conference season against Chicago State Monday evening.
 
The Bulldogs take on Loyola in Chicago, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. before traveling to Valparaiso Sept. 23 for a 7 p.m. contest. Taking a brief break from Valley play, Drake closes out its trip with a 7 p.m. matchup at Chicago State Sept. 25.
 
Drake enters conference play with the best record in the Valley at 10-3, its most non-conference wins since the 2010 season. The Bulldogs wrapped up tournament play last weekend with a 2-0 performance at the WIU Buffalo Wild Wings Invitational. The Bulldogs defeated McNeese State 3-2 before sweeping Western Illinois 3-0. In the win over Western Illinois Drake hit an impressive .422 with 57 kills on 117 attempts and just eight errors, tallying the highest percentage in the Valley this season and the best by the Bulldogs since 2009.
 
Senior Kyla Inderski (Urbandale, Iowa) averaged a double-double over the weekend with 30 kills and 24 digs. Inderski continues to climb up the career record chart at Drake as she now has 1,195 career kills and 1,193 career digs, the third and fifth most in school history, respectively.
 
Drake will be in search of their fourth-straight win in a conference opener against Loyola, who enters the conference schedule with a 1-10 record. Last weekend the Ramblers fell to Miami (Ohio) and then No. 15 Purdue.  Valparaiso enters their first weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7-5 record, also boasting wins over McNeese State and Western Illinois.
 
Following the matchup against Chicago State, the Bulldogs return to the Knapp Center to host conference opponents Illinois State and Bradley Sept. 29 and 30, respectively at 7 p.m.