Over the weekend, the Bell Center was filled with sounds of squeaking shoes, blowing of whistles, celebratory cheers, and floor burn as athletes dove and girls shouted commands and encouragement to help their teammates.
The Drake University Volleyball Club hosted the Drake Winter Classic on Saturday. This was the first time in four years Drake was able to host a club volleyball tournament.
“We try to host a tournament every year, but the Bell Center availability and tournament dates didn’t work out,” said senior team member Anne Jacobson about the lack of a tournament in recent years.
Six club volleyball teams from four different schools filled the gym. Both Drake and the University of Northern Iowa entered two teams into the tournament. St. Benedict from St. Cloud, Minn., and Minnesota State-Mankato also competed over the weekend.
Players made the Bell Center gym their home for the day. Athletic bags lined the wall, water bottles were spread along benches, grocery bags with high energy foods and snacks were a prized possession, fans moved chairs or set up their own lawn chairs around the courts and several mesh bags of volleyballs lay in the corners.
The Volleyball Club members organized the event. The club is entirely student-run and does not have a coach. This is different than many universities that have coaches and tryouts. Many larger schools’ club teams have players who were unable to make the varsity squad.
The day was full of volleyball for all players who came to the tournament. When not playing, each team was responsible for providing officials for the other games that were being played.
The tournament consisted of pool play to begin the day, each team playing four matches in the morning. After pool play was completed and a short break for lunch, each team was placed in a single elimination tournament, their records from pool play deciding the seed they received.
St. Benedict was awarded the top seed, while the Drake blue squad got the No. 6 seed and the Drake white squad received the No. 6 seed.
The blue was able to advance to the second round to take on St. Benedict. St. Benedict continued their tournament dominance and won to move on in the bracket.
“We continue to improve,” senior team member Rachel Kauffold said about the performance of both Drake squads.
“It can be tough playing against larger schools that have tryouts,” Jacobson said.
The club was started eight years ago by a group of girls that wanted to continue their volleyball careers.
“We play for fun and to keep playing after high school,” Jacobson said. “Intramurals are only once a year; club lets us play all year.”
The club team is registered with the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation, an organization in charge of national club volleyball.
Before this weekend’s tournament, the club had played in tournaments at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Kansas.
“Girls just wanted to join the club volleyball network,” said second-year pharmacy major and Club President Lori Peymann. “There are several other club teams in our area.”
The club practices every Monday at 9 p.m. in the Knapp Center and Thursdays at 8 p.m. The club is open for any interested volleyball players.
“We are always looking for tall girls especially,” Jacobson said.
If interested in playing, girls can contact Peymann at lori.peymann@drake.edu.
