The Drake University volleyball team has made a tradition of spending the first month of its season crisscrossing the country the last three years. However, that tradition ends this weekend when the Bulldogs welcome four other teams to the Knapp Center for the Drake Invitational, Sept. 7-9.
 
The three-day, nine-game tournament has the Bulldogs hosting Omaha, Montana, San Jose State and Southeast Missouri State.
 
"This is huge for our program; to be here at home after back-to-back weeks on the coasts and we are so excited to be here at home," said Drake head coach Darrin McBroom. "We're hoping for a really exciting weekend in bringing Drake volleyball back to Des Moines."
 
The tournament begins Thursday with a single game against Omaha at 7 p.m. Tickets for Thursday's match are just $1 as the Bulldogs aim to pack the Knapp Center for a true home court advantage. The tournament continues for Drake on Friday against Southeast Missouri State at 3 p.m. and San Jose State at 7 p.m. Drake's competition concludes with a 3 p.m. match against Montana Saturday.
 
For the full tournament schedule for all teams, click here.
 
The Bulldogs return to their home court with a 5-2 record to open the season and a tournament title to their credit after opening the season with a title at the Titan Tournament in Fullerton, Calif. Last weekend, the team went 2-1 at the JMU Invitational with the lone loss coming in the championship game against host and eventual champion JMU. Over the last three seasons, the Bulldogs have gone 29-16 in non-conference tournaments.
 
"Overall I'm very pleased with our start. We have a young team and overall we've gotten off to a decent start," McBroom said.