Drake Women’s Volleyball had a successful season this year. The Bulldogs had an overall record of 13-7 and a conference record of 11-5.
Drake started their season off with a home match against University of Northern Iowa. The Bulldogs beat UNI 3-1, this was the first time in 25 years that Drake has beaten UNI. Drake then went on to compete against Western Illinois and got another 3-1 win. Drake had two more wins, first against South Dakota State and then once again against UNI creating a 4-match winning streak.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost to Marquette but then bounced right back to beat Bradley back-to-back with 3-1 wins. Drake took on Illinois state and Valparaiso Unfortunately, they lost both matches to both of those schools. Eventually, they bounced back to win both matches 3-1 against Evansville. Drake also got two more wins against southern Illions and got two wins against Indiana State.
Finally, Drake traveled to Chicago IL to play against Loyola. After losing the first match 0-3, Drake came back the next day to win the match 3-1.
Drake’s successful season did not go unnoticed, Head coach Darrin McBroom, received Coach of the Year by the Missouri Valley Conference. Sophomore Haley Bush is an outside hitter who was named Missouri Valley Conference player of the year. Haley Bush and Senior Emily Plock who is an opposite hitter joined the All-MVC first team. Senior Kylee Macke who is a Libero for the Bulldogs was named All-MVC second team. Haley Bush was the first bulldog to be given player of the year since 1984.
Heading into the MVC tournament Drake was the second seed. Being the second seed in the tournament is one of the highest seeds that Drake has ever been. Drake faced UNI in the first round of the MVC. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost to UNI 3-0. Drake lost the first set, 25-19 and lost the second set 25-21, and lost the third set 25-20.
Even though their season did not end the way that Drake wanted it to, they still have lots to be proud of. First-year Kacie Rewerts was proud of the season they had, “Our season may have not ended the way we wanted it to, but the entire season was a historic season for Drake volleyball,” She said. “As a team I believe that we set a standard for what Drake volleyball should be like for the seasons to come.”
Rewerts stated her favorite memories from the season were when the Bulldogs were given ice cream after their coach felt that they earned it after good wins.
First-year Macy DeLeye explains how she thought the Bulldogs season went, “ I think we had a good season overall,” She said. “We all worked hard and pushed ourselves as the season went on and we all got better. I had a great experience this year and next year, we’ll keep working hard and get better.”
Just as DeLeye stated, the Bulldogs will continue to work hard and come back stronger next season.
