The Drake University volleyball team travels to Ames, Iowa, Thursday, Nov. 29, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship at 6:30 p.m.
The postseason appearance is the second in program history and first since 1995 when Drake competed in a previous iteration of the NIVC.
Drake (21-14, 8-10 MVC) is coming off of a solid showing in the MVC Tournament where it won its first MVC Tournament match since 1998. The Bulldogs' win over No. 3 seed Bradley was also the first time in MVC history that a No. 6 seed has advanced out of the first round of play.
Despite losing 3-0 to No. 2 seed Illinois State, the Bulldogs gave the NCAA tournament-bound Redbirds a fight in all three sets. Cathryn Cheek totaled 14 kills and 17 digs for yet another double-double performance. Natalie Fry also totaled a career-high 14 kills, which took just 23 attacks for an incredible .609 hitting percentage.
Iowa State (16-13, 9-7 BIG 12) closed the regular season on a 4-0 winning-streak to earn its invitation to the NIVC. Iowa State has an impressive resume, with two wins over ranked teams including a 3-0 sweep over MVC champion UNI. The Cyclones are led by Jess Schaben who is averaging a team-high 3.93 kills per set and is second on the team with 2.85 digs per set.
The NIVC, in its second year of competition, is a 32-team tournament with five rounds of single-elimination play. The first and second rounds are split into four team 'pods' based on proximity of selected teams. Along with Drake and Iowa State, Bowling Green and MVC rival Bradley will face each other in the first round of play with the winner of each game playing to advance to the quarterfinals.
