The Basics
The Drake volleyball team is set to start their 2023 campaign on the road with the first of four early season invitational tournaments. The Bulldogs will travel to Dayton, Ohio for the Flyer Invitational with three games across two days.
Drake will start their season with a neutral site match against Marquette on Friday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m. before a Saturday double header against the hosts from Dayton at 10 a.m. and Western Kentucky at 2 p.m.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Drake will look to recreate their magical 2022 season after posting a program record 30 wins last year. The Bulldogs also notched runner-up finishes in both the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and NIVC Tournament.
Drake returns most of their talented roster including two-time and reigning MVC Player of the Year
Haley Bush. The fifth-year player sits third on Drake's all-time kills list and posted 523 kills last season, the most in a single year in Drake volleyball history. The Bulldogs also bring back 2022 MVC Freshman of the Year
Addison Beagle who recorded 1,613 assists last year, another single-season record.
The Bulldogs were narrowly edged by defending league champ UNI in the 2023 Preseason Poll. Head coach
Darrin McBroom's squad picked up three first place votes and 133 points compared to the Panthers' seven first place nods and 135 points. The two other first place votes went to UIC in third position and Illinois state in seventh.
Scouting Marquette
The Bulldogs' opening game will be a challenge as No. 12 Marquette is primed for a great year. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 29-4 season last year including a 17-1 mark in Big East play. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament and won two games on the national stage before being upended by top-ranked Texas.
Marquette received two first place votes and 90 points in the 2023 Big East Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, behind their fellow 2022 league co-champ Creighton.
AVCA All-American Yadhira Anchante highlights the Golden Eagles' returners. Anchante ranked 22nd nationally with 10.78 assists per set a year ago. Front row players Aubrey Hamilton, Carsen Murray, and Hattie Bray joined Anchante on the 2023 All-Big East Preseason Team and all four athletes landed on last year's All-Big East team.
Drake trails Marquette in the all-time series with Marquette by a 6-1 margin.
Scouting Dayton
Dayton is also locked in for 2023 with hopes for a special year of their own. The Flyers, like Drake, are slated to finish as the runner-up in their respective league, the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton finished last year with a 20-14 overall record and a 12-6 mark in the A-10.
All-conference performers Lexie Almodovar and Amelia Moore return for the Flyers and will again lead their offensive attack. Almodovar logged 3.96 kills per set a season ago while Moore provided a sturdier defensive presence, rejecting 1.30 blocks per stanza.
Saturday's tilt will be the first-ever meeting between Dayton and Drake on the volleyball court.
Scouting Western Kentucky
The Bulldogs will end the weekend with another quality opponent, the No. 24 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. WKU is the preseason favorite in Conference USA after posting 20+ wins for the 23rd-straight season. The Toppers rattled off an unblemished 14-0 CUSA season in 2022 while going 29-4 overall. Their season was ended by No. 3 seed Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
Western Kentucky also returns plenty of production including AVCA All-American outside hitter Paige Briggs, 2022 CUSA Freshman of the Year setter Callie Bauer, 2023 Preseason All-CUSA performer Kenadee Coyle, and Kaylee Cox, a Mizzou transfer.
Drake trails WKU in their all-time series, 3-0. Saturday's match will be the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Hilltoppers since 2004.
Up Next
Drake will head west for their next early season invite. The Bulldogs are set to take on Tulsa, Northwestern State, and the host Cougars of Washington State at the Cougar Challenge in Pullman, Wash. from Friday, Sep. 1 to Saturday, Sep. 2.
