DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake volleyball is set to start their 2023 campaign next week. The Bulldogs return several key components to last season's Missouri Valley Coneference and NIVC runner-up squad including MVC Player of the Year Haley Bush and the league's Freshman of the Year, Addison Beagle.
 
Head coach Darrin McBroom will also add a handful of newcomers. Learn more about the Bulldogs' newest faces below.
 
Aniyah Davis comes to Des Moines from Proviso East High School in Illinois. The four-year varsity player earned Most Valuable Player and Most Athletic Female awards for the Pirates. Davis was also a standout on the the Proviso East track and field team.
 
Of Drake's five newcomers in their 2023 recruiting class, just one hails from the state of Iowa. Osage native Claudia Aschenbrenner was a key contributor for the four-time Top of Iowa East Conference champion Green Devils. Aschenbrenner won various awards during her prep career including the league's Player of the Year, All-District, All-State, and AVCA Iowa Player of the Week.
 
The Bulldogs' lone transfer comes from south of the Iowa-Missouri border. Former Mizzou player Jasmine Dulan transferred to Drake after one season as a Tiger. The Blue Valley North High School graduate appeared in 25 matches and started two contests for Mizzou. Prior to her time in Columbia, Dulan earned All-Conference honors all four years of her prep career and logged over 700 kills and digs while amassing nearly 150 service aces. She was named to the AVCA All-Region Team and an AVCA All-American Honorable Mentioned while also garnering various Kansas Class 6A All-State accolades. Dulan helped lead the Mustangs to their first-ever state championship.
 
Another decorated prep athlete, Lisa Melenciano trades the tropical climate of her native Miami for Iowa's capital city. Melenciano was a two-time team captain at Miami Senior High School and was named to the All-County Second Team while competing fot the Stingarees. She won back-to-back MVP awards and was voted the team's Most Improved Player as a sophomore … Melenciano was also part of a historic team on the club circuit as her Miami Select Volleyball Club became the first American team to attend the Caribbean Volleyball Tournament in Puerto Rico in consecutive years.
 
Drake also signed another four-year letter winner and AVCA All-American KC Fortune. The Wisconsin native signed with the Bulldogs last November.