With six seniors and one graduate student from last season’s roster graduating, there will be some big differences for the Drake University women’s volleyball team this fall.
The Bulldogs will retain some key players from this year, like sophomore middle blocker Bliss Beck, freshman setter Katie Quick and freshman outside hitter Caroline Smith. Head Coach Darrin McBroom also gained four new transfer players this semester.
Hannah Ditsworth, a junior middle blocker from the University of Illinois Chicago and Shay McMillen, a sophomore outside hitter from Parkland College, transferred to Drake, along with two sophomore defensive specialist/liberos, Bella Faria from Arizona State University and Finley Schelhaas from the University of Northern Colorado.
“We have been working on coming together as a team, working on connections, stuff like that, since we do have four transfers that came to us at semester. So, getting them accustomed to the team and the school in general,” Beck said.
According to Beck and McBroom, the Bulldogs are working on building team camaraderie so that plays flow better and they can focus on bettering their gameplay during the season. Just having the team play together is helping to solidify bonds in the offseason to make things easier in season, they added.
Beck said the Bulldogs just got into their 20-hour practice week. The team starts three days each week with lifting at 6:30 a.m. They have a two-hour practice every day during the week as well.
“We have such a new roster with four transfers and five freshmen coming in for next season, it will be a different team dynamic that we are having fun exploring,” Beck said.
The team will have four scrimmages this semester to help them prepare for the fall season. The first scrimmage was March 10 at home with Indian Hills Community College and Simpson College. Next, the Bulldogs will attend another tournament on March 28. On April 7, the team will travel to the University of Omaha for one scrimmage before heading to Iowa City to play the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.
The team will also take their fall season preparation to an international scale.
“This summer we are going on our foreign trip to Spain and Portugal in early June, so our summer schedule will be very different than it usually is. We will play teams over there and train in late May to prepare for it. We are all super excited for that,” Beck said.
The trip to Spain and Portugal is the team’s first overseas trip since 2022, when they went to Brazil. At the end of May, the whole team, including incoming freshmen, will come in to prepare for the trip.
“I am looking to get our complete new team in the gym and seeing how competitive we can be in the Valley this year,” McBroom said in an email interview.
The Bulldogs will start out the fall season with a home tournament. They haven’t hosted a home tournament since the 2019 season.
