The Basics
Drake volleyball will host a busy weekend as they take on Southern Illinois on Friday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. and Missouri State on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. before renewing their rivalry with UNI on Monday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
 
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake will take a 12-6 record with enter the seventh weekend of the season after sweeping the road trip to Indiana last weekend. They defeated Indiana State to open the trip (10/6) and overcame Evansville (10/7). Both were won by an identical margin of 3-0.
 
Taylor Oberpriller has led a high-powered Bulldog offense this season with 261 kills, which is good for fourth in the Missouri Valley. Macy Daufeldt (215) and Haley Bush (205) have also played an integral part. Setter Addison Beagle is second in the MVC with 710 assists.
 
Defensively, Jada Wills leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 405 digs. Kacie Rewerts has continued to shine at the net, racking up 96 total blocks, good for the second-most in the Valley, and 1.48 blocks per set.
 
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis come into the weekend with a record of 12-6 overall, with a 4-3 MVC record. They are on a two-game losing streak, coming off losses against Murray State (3-0) and Belmont (3-2) last weekend.
 
The team is led offensively by Nataly Garcia with 235 kills, good for sixth in the MVC. Besides Garcia, they have four other players with at least 130 kills; Annabelle Sulish (190), Tatum Tornatta (166), Imani Hartfield (131), and Kelly Franklin (130). Ema Stermenska and Anna Jaworski lead the team in assists, with 386 and 376, respectively.
 
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs with a 42-27 record. Drake is on a six-game win streak vs Southern Illinois (dating back to March of 2021), and is is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings. Most recently, Drake defeated the Salukis 3-0 at home last November.
 
Scouting Missouri State
The Bears have a record of 9-10 with a 3-4 MVC record heading into the weekend. They are coming off a 1-1 weekend, after defeating Belmont 3-2 on 10/6 and falling to Murray State 1-3 on 10/7. They will play host UNI on Oct. 13 before playing Drake on Saturday.
 
The Bears' attack is paced by Maddy Bushnell with 195 kills. Melanie Feliciano has contributed 186 kills to the Bears' attack. Deja Bickers and Azyah Green have a significant role, with 159 and 157 kills, respectively. Morgan Sprague leads the team in assists with 401.
 
Drake is behind in the all-time series versus Missouri State, 54-12. The Bulldogs are on a current three game win streak versus the Bears, dating back to November 2021. The two teams most recently met last November, where the Bulldogs came away with a 3-0 win.
 
Scouting UNI
The rival Panthers will travel to Des Moines on Monday with a record of 12-6 overall and an undefeated 6-0 MVC record heading into the weekend. They are also coming off back-to-back sweeps at Evansville (10/6) and Indiana State (10/7). UNI will host Missouri State and Southern Illinois before playing Drake on Oct. 16.
 
Emily Holterhaus and Kira Fallert lead the Panther offense with 200+ kills each. Olivia Tjernagel and Layanna Green have also been productive with 130+ kills to their credit. Tjernagel has also been a force defensively with a team-high 72 blocks. Setter Tayler Alden's 602 assists top the roster. Erin Powers also leads UNI in two difference categories with 303 digs and 21 service aces.
 
Drake trails all-time series versus Missouri State, 28-4. The two teams split the most recent matches with the Bulldogs winning the 2023 regular season finale in the Knapp Center and UNI winning in Evansville, Ind. to capture the MVC Tournament crown. All four of Drake's wins over the Panthers have come since 2020.
 
Up Next
Drake will hit the road again to take on Murray State and Belmont next weekend.