The Basics
The Drake University volleyball team continues the 2022 season at the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by IUPUI Sept. 2-3. The Bulldogs will play Montana in the opening match at 3:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 2 before taking on IUPUI Saturday (Sept. 3) morning at 11:30 a.m. CT followed by a meeting with Saint Francis at 2:30 p.m. CT.
 
Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic Recap
The Bulldogs started the season 2-1 at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic Aug. 26-27. Drake defeated CSUN and Texas A&M Commerce handily before dropping a five-set battle to Air Force in the tournament finale. Mariana Rodrigues and Addison Beagle were both named to the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic All-Tournament Team.
 
MVC Freshman of the Week
Drake freshman setter Addison Beagle garnered Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week honors, the league announced on Monday (Aug. 29) for her efforts during the opening weekend of the season.

Beagle ran the offense efficiently in her debut at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic Aug. 26-27. Beagle distributed 32 assists in her debut against CSUN on Aug. 26. The Liberty, Mo., native contributed 45 assists against Texas A&M-Commerce on Aug. 27 and a career-high 55 assists at Air Force. Beagle averaged 11.0 assists per set and 44.0 assists per match. She added 22 digs over the weekend including 14 in the win over TAMUC.

The Drake volleyball team will travel to Indianapolis Sept. 2-3 for the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by IUPUI.  
 
Rodrigues' Dominant Start
Mariana Rodrigues led her team with 55 kills (18.3 kills per match, 4.6 kills per set, 5.08 points per set) and added 9 blocks (3.33 kills pet match, 0.75 kills per set) at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic Aug. 26-27. Rodrigues put together hitting percentage of .259 over the first three matches of the season highlighted by a .289 hitting percentage in a win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Aug. 27. In the TAMUC match, Rodrigues registered 20 kills and nine digs. She set a season-high with 24 kills and had five total blocks against Air Force on Aug. 27. 
 
Haley Bush Doing Haley Bush Things
Haley Bush recorded 20 kills in the match at Air Force, marking the 12^th time in her career that had 20 or more kills.
 
Season Opening Success
Drake volleyball head coach Darrin McBroom has a 7-2 record in season openers at Drake.
 
Scouting Montana
Montana went 2-1 at its own Ellesyn Invitational Aug. 26-27. The Grizzlies defeated North Dakota and UT Arlington in straight sets on the opening day before dropping the finale (3-1) at UC Davis. Montana finished the 2021 campaign with an 11-16 record.
 
Paige Clark paces Montana with 40 kills while Carly Anderson runs the offense with 108 assists through 10 sets. Defensively, Sarina Morena has a team-best 32 digs.
Allison Lawrence enters her sixth season as the Montana head volleyball coach and has an overall record of 40-96.
 
Scouting IUPUI
The Jaguars (1-2) ended its opening weekend at the Eastern Kentucky Colonel Classic with a sweep of Radford on Aug. 27.
 
Briana Brown paces IUPUI with 28 kills while Sidney Veatch runs the offense with 84 assists through 11 sets. Defensively, Addie Evans has recorded a team-best 61 digs and Morgan Ostrowski has 11 total blocks.
 
IUPUI finished 5-24 last season and the Jags are led by Lindsey Froehlich in her fifth total season in charge. Froehlich owns a 15-60 head coaching record.
 
Scouting Saint Francis (Pa.)
Saint Francis will be searching for its first win of the season after going 0-3 on its home court at the Red Flash Classic Aug. 26-27.
 
Madi Tyus paces Saint Francis with 46 kills including 18 in the season opener against Gardner-Webb. Emma Fenton runs the offense with 73 assists through 11 sets. Defensively, Aubrey Deptula is a presence at the net with 14 total blocks so far.
 
The Red Flash finished 13-14 last season as Sara McMullen Spielvogel enters her sixth season as the head coach with a 38-101 overall record.
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs will make the short trip north to face Iowa State in the first match of the Cardinal & Gold Challenge on Wednesday, Sept. 7.