The Drake University volleyball team heads to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on Missouri Valley Conference leading UNI Friday, Oct. 19, night at 7 p.m. The match between the two in-state foes will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Drake (16-7, 5-4 MVC) is trying to climb up the MVC standings after going 1-1 last weekend to finish the first half of the conference season at 5-4. On Friday, Oct. 12 the Bulldogs lost 3-0 to Missouri State.
Cathryn Cheek led the team in kills with 11, and added nine digs, which was the second most for the Bulldogs.
In Saturday's game Drake shut down Southern Illinois for a 3-0 sweep thanks to efficient play all around. Two players hit above .230 on 25 or more attempts, including
Cathryn Cheek at .275 with 16 kills and another nine dig performance. Cheek has had double-figure kills in each of the last five matches including a career-high 23 kills in one of them.
UNI (15-6, 9-0 MVC) returns home after a 2-0 road trip with wins over SIU and Missouri State last weekend. The Panthers are 13-1 against unranked opponents this season, their lone unranked loss came to Iowa State at home in late August.
Drake is currently in the top five of the MVC in opponent hitting percentage (.167), assists per set (12.69), kills per set (13.55), blocks per set (2.18), and digs per set (17.69).
Kylee Macke is fifth in the league in digs per set (4.85) and
Cathryn Cheek is fifth in the league in kills per set (3.52).
After facing UNI, Drake will return to the Knapp Center for a trio of games, starting with Loyola on Friday Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and then Valparaiso on Saturday. Drake will cap off the homestand by taking on non-conference opponent Chicago State on Monday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.
