Danielle "Dani" Drews (; born February 2, 1999) is an American professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player who plays as an outside hitter for the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. The current head coach is three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant beac ...

and Italian Series A1 professional team Cuneo.

Personal life

Drews is from

Sandy, Utah Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimated ...

and attended Brighton High School. She comes from an athletic family: her father, Paul Barton, played baseball and football at Utah from 1989-91. Her mother, Mikki Barton, played basketball and volleyball at Utah. Her brothers,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

and

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

, both play football in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. Drews married former Utah football player Christian Drews in 2018. She is a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

Career

College

Drews is left handed. She played indoor college volleyball for a total of five years, as she opted to use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the

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pandemic. She finished her career as Utah’s All-Time Leader in career kills (2,268), sets played (561), matches played (150), and attempts (5,655). She is the only player in Utah history to record 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs. She finished her career ranked second all-time in the Pac-12 in career kills. She was invited to train with the U.S. collegiate national team in 2020 and 2021. Dani Drews blocking volleyball

Drews also played

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

at Utah and has participated in AVP tours. When she was in high school, she was intending to play collegiate beach volleyball for

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, but decided on Utah as she wanted to be close to her family. For Utah's beach team, she was named All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Professional clubs

KPS Chemik Police KPS Chemik Police is the women's volleyball department of Polish sports club based in Police and plays in the Orlen Liga. Previous names Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following names: * KS Chemik Police (1989–1993) * A ...

(2021–2022) *

Athletes Unlimited An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

(2022) * Cuneo (2022–) Dani Drews spiking ball

Drews signed her first professional contract with Polish club

, however she left the team without informing them before the season ended due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The officials of the club informed Drews that remaining in Poland was safe, but on February 25, she didn’t appear at the briefing and training before the Polish Cup match. It was reported that the team will seek disciplinary punishment of Drews with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and USA Volleyball. After returning to the U.S., she joined Athletes Unlimited in March 2022 and ended the season with 3,308 ranking points that included 222 kills, 119 digs, and 14 services aces, ranking third in total points out of 44 players. She was named to the Dream Team for the 2022 season. She signed with Italian Series A1 Team Cuneo for the 2022–2023 season.

USA National Team

In May 2022, Drews made her national team debut when she was named to the 25-player wide roster for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament, but did not see any playing time in the tournament. In August 2022, Drews participated in the

2022 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup The 2022 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup was the 19th edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament. It was held in Hermosillo, Mexico from 19–29 August, 2022. The Dominican Republic won the gold medal, its 6th overall, while Colomb ...

. Drews started for USA's opening match in a four set victory over Peru, recording 19 points on 15 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces. Drews scored 24 points on 23 kills and one ace in a 3–2 loss to the Dominican Republic in a preliminary round match. The U.S. would eventually win the bronze medal after defeating tournament hosts Mexico in 4 sets. In September 2022, Drews played in the Pan American Cup Final Six Tournament. In the opening match victory versus Mexico, she led all scorers with 15 points, recording 14 kills and 1 ace. In the semifinal match versus Puerto Rico, Drews again led the team with scoring, recording 21 total points on 15 kills, 5 blocks, and an ace. Drews recorded 7 total points in the gold medal match to Dominican Republic, U.S. lost the match, winning the silver medal for the tournament.

Awards and honors

Clubs

* 2022 Athletes Unlimited – ''Best outside hitter''

College

*Four-time AVCA All-American (First Team – 2019, 2020, 2021; Second Team – 2018 ) *Pac-12 Player of the Year (2020)

External links

Team USA BioCEV Champions League Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drews, Dani 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Utah People from Sandy, Utah Outside hitters American women's volleyball players American women's beach volleyball players Utah Utes women's volleyball players Utah Utes women's beach volleyball players American expatriate sportspeople in Poland American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Poland Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players 21st-century American sportswomen