The Basics
Drake volleyball hits the road for their final weekend of the regular season. The Bulldogs are set to travel to Valparaiso on Friday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., UIC on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. and UNI on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake brings a 20-7 overall record and 13-2 mark in league play into the final weekend of the regular season. Most recently, the Bulldogs defended the Knapp Center with a 3-2 win over Evansville (11/3) and Indiana State (11/4).
Taylor Oberpriller has paced a high-powered Drake offense this season with 376. Senior
Haley Bush recently eclipsed the all-time mark for kills in a career at Drake, and she's added 330 on the season thus far. Setter
Addison Beagle leads the Bulldogs in assists with 882, which is good for fourth-most in the Valley per set.
Defensively,
Jada Wills continues to shine in the back row with a conference-leading 585 digs.
Kacie Rewerts has continued to be a force at the net, racking up 143 total blocks. That's the second most in the Valley in total, and it's good for the most per set at 1.47.
Scouting Valparaiso
The Beacons bring an 18-10 overall record and 10-5 mark in MVC play into the weekend. They recently went on the road and defeated Bradley (11/3) and Illinois State (11/4) in the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
Four Valpo players have connected on 200+ kills led by Elise Swistek's 256. Victoria Bulmahn and Addy Kois have been stellar distributors with 531 assists and 528 assists, respectively. Sophomore libero Emma Hickey leads the Beacons with 535 digs on the season, good for the fourth-most in the Valley.
The Bulldogs trail Valparaiso in their all-time series, 13-6. Drake has won the last two meetings after the Beacons rolled off six-straight victories.
Scouting UIC
The Flames of UIC bring an overall record of 18-10 and a conference mark of 9-6 into the weekend. Most recently, they swept Illinois State (11/3) and Bradley (11/4). The Flames will host UNI (11/10) before hosting the Bulldogs.
Martina Delucchi has paced the Flames' offensive efforts with 326 kills on the year. Delucchi also paces the Flames with 27 service aces. Francesca Venturini leads UIC with 664 assists followed by Sohila Wafeek's 473. Defensively, Jaclyn Oblena leads the team with 327 digs.
Drake and UIC have each won four matches in the all-time series. Earlier this season, UIC came into the Knapp Center and bested Drake by a 3-2 margin.
Scouting UNI
The rival Panthers will host Drake in Cedar Falls to close out the regular season. UNI heads into the weekend with a 21-6 overall record, and they sit atop the Valley with a clean 15-0 mark. UNI will travel to UIC (11/10) and Valpo (11/11) before rounding out the regular season with Drake.
Emily Holterhaus and Kira Fallert lead the Panther offense with 315+ kills each. Olivia Tjernagel has been a force defensively with a team-high 97 blocks. Setter Tayler Alden's 937 assists top the roster and is good for the second-most in the conference. Erin Powers also leads UNI in two different categories with 452 digs and 38 service aces.
Drake trails all-time series versus UNI, 75-7. Earlier this season, UNI defeated Drake 3-1 in the Knapp Center.
Up Next
Drake will hit the road for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which will be played at Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri.
