maly, too: Drake's Volleyball Team Hits the Road

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Drake's Volleyball Team Hits the Road

Bulldogs Travel To Evansville and Southern Illinois This Weekend

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

Fri., Sept. 28 at Evansville 7:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 29 at Southern Illinois 3:00 p.m.

QUICK HITS

The Drake (1-12, 0-3) volleyball team will play Missouri Valley Conference road matches this weekend against Evansville (5-11, 1-3) and Southern Illinois (11-3, 2-2). The Bulldogs are seeking their first conference win of 2012.

EVANSVILLE

The Purple Aces are led by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Ring as she sits atop the MVC in kills with 218 and 3.82 kills per set and she also has 168 digs with a 2.95 per set average. Mike Swan is in his 10^th season as Evansville’s head coach and he owns a 120-173 overall record. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 22-16 with wins in both matches in 2011.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

The Salukis are coached by first-year head coach Justin Ingram who was previously the head coach at Arkansas State. Ingram has the Salukis off to a strong start this season at 11-3 overall with wins over Illinois State and Memphis. SIU is second in the conference with 14.21 kills per set average and they have a trio of players that rank in the top-10 of the conference in kills. Laura Thole (3.77) is second, Alysia Mayes is fourth (3.71) and Jessica Whitehead (3.52) is fifth. The Salukis lead the all-time series 19-32 and the two teams split last season.

REWIND

The Bulldogs split a pair of matches in Omaha, Neb. last weekend. The Bulldogs defeated Nebraska Omaha in a five-set thriller, 3-2, Friday night in a non-conference match for their first win of the season. Four Bulldogs recorded double-digit kills in the win led by Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn.) and Amanda Plate (Mount Vernon, Iowa). The next night the Creighton Bluejays defeated Drake, 3-0.

ACES

Senior Jadranka Tramosljanin (Ruma, Serbia) is second in the Valley in service aces average. The senior outside hitter is averaging 0.34 per set and has 15 aces overall this season. Tramosjanin has started every match this campaign. Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) has 12 aces and 0.27 per set average which ranks ninth in the Valley. Drake has 54 aces as a team and is tied for fifth in the MVC with a 1.23 average per set.

DEFENSE

Madden and Tramosljanin have provided a strong defensive presence in the back row this year for the Bulldogs. Madden has 218 digs and is averaging 4.95 per set which is third in the conference. Tramosljanin has 160 digs and is averaging 3.64 per set. Madden has started every match in the libero position for the Bulldogs and she was named to the all-tournament team at the New Mexico State tournament.

INSTANT IMPACT

Freshmen Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.) and Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.) have started every match at the middle blocker positions in their first season for the Blue and White. Effken leads the Bulldogs in total blocks (50), block assists (39), block solos (11) and points (122.5) and she is second in kills (90). She was named to the all-tournament team at the Bulldogs first tournament of 2012 (Green Bay). Effken is sixth in the MVC with a 1.14 blocks per set average. Dulek is second on the team in block assists (35) and fifth in kills (51) and she earned all-tournament honors at the InnTowner Invitational. She had a career-high eight kills with just one error against Creighton and received player of the week considerations from the Valley for her efforts.

SETTING UP

Sophomore Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) has started every match this fall at the setter position for the Bulldogs. She has dished out 205 assists for an average of 4.66 per set in addition she has 68 digs. Meyer had her career-high in assists with 28 in the win over UNO. Freshman Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) has seen action in all 13 matches at the setter position as well. She has dished out 173 assists for an average of 4.11 per set in addition she has 44 digs.

LEFTY FIREPOWER

Senior outside hitter Bentley Mancini leads the Bulldogs with 103 kills and 2.34 kills per set. Mancini, a left-handed hitter has started every match for the Blue and White this year. The Minnesota native is a senior captain and has 393 kills in her collegiate career.

STEPPING UP

Sophomore Amanda Platte had an outstanding performance in the win over UNO. The outside hitter finished with a career-high 12 kills and eight digs and she added four block assists. She is fourth on the team with 76 kills. Platte has started seven matches and Erin Roggenburg (Ankeny, Iowa) has started six matches this fall at the outside hitter position opposite Mancini.

ALL HANDS ON DECK

11 of the 12 student-athletes on this season’s roster have seen match action. Drake has one of the youngest rosters in the nation with two seniors, one redshirt junior, three sophomores and six freshmen.

BACK HOME

Drake’s next home match will be Friday, Oct. 5 when they host the Bradley Braves at 7 p.m. The UNI Panthers will travel to the Knapp Center the next night and that match will also begin at 7 p.m.

2012 LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

This season the Bulldogs will have a leadership council with Bentley Mancini as the designated senior class member, Sarah Madden as the designated junior class member, Halli Meyer as the sophomore class member and Cassie Effken will represent the freshman class.

THE BULLDOGS IN 2012

Second-year head coach Tony Sunga will have a young but talented team in 2012. Drake welcomes six newcomers to the program and they join six returning players. The Bulldogs will face a strong schedule this season with seven opponents that qualified for the 2011 NCAA tournament.

ATTACK

Senior Bentley Mancini (Burnsville, Minn.) will lead the Bulldogs attack this fall. The Minnesota native enters her senior year with significant experience from the previous two seasons with 15 starts and 236 kills in 2011. Amanda Platte (Mount Vernon, Iowa) came on late in 2011 and the sophomore will have an increased role for the Blue and White. Sophomore Erin Roggenburg (Ankeny, Iowa) and Shelby Daum (Battle Creek, Neb.) will provide depth at the position. Senior Jadranka Tramosljanin (Ruma, Serbia) will once again provide help between the front and back rows.

Emily Heffernen and Michelle Reidy graduated from a year ago and their presence in the middle will be missed, but a young and talented group of five is ready to fill their void. Freshmen Katie Dulek (Lenexa, Kan.) and Cassie Effken (Lincoln, Neb.) have stood out early and each will see significant time this season. Freshmen Katie Allen (Mokena, Ill.) will provide depth in the middle and on the outside.

SETTER

Sophomore Halli Meyer (Bettendorf, Iowa) steps into the setter role after the graduation of Caitlin Johnson. Meyer saw time in 14 matches her freshman season and was elected to the team’s leadership council for 2012. Freshman Rebecca Brown (Bentonville, Ark.) will backup Meyer. She also comes from a successful high school program that captured two Arkansas state titles.

DEFENSE

Tramoslijanin and junior Sarah Madden (Van Meter, Iowa) both enter their second season at Drake and will anchor the back row. Scarlett Howerter (Lincoln, Neb.) teamed with Effken her senior year of high school in Nebraska and will provide depth in the back row and will occasionally

COACHING STAFF

Drake head coach Tony Sunga is in his second season leading the program. Sunga is a 1988 Drake graduate, who previously served as a Drake assistant coach under former coach Amy Faber Knowles from 2005-07. Sunga was hired from Wyoming, where he was an assistant coach for three seasons.

Sunga is assisted by Erin Hirsch and Rob Batzler. Hirsch is in her sixth season as an assistant coach and she played at the University of Northern Iowa. Batzler is in his first season as an assistant coach after he served as a volunteer coach in 2011.

DRAKE PICKED TENTH
Drake was picked to finish tenth in the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll conducted by league coaches. Northern Iowa captured all 10 first-place votes to top the voting with 100 points. The Bulldogs finished eighth in 2011.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by John Meyer of Drake's sports information staff].

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.